temporizer

1
as in chameleon
a person who dexterously and expediently changes or adopts opinions the kind of temporizer who determines his position on a political issue by taking a look at the polls

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2
as in machinator
one who does things only for his own benefit and with little regard for right and wrong a lifelong temporizer, he was for the war as long as it was popular and against it the minute the tide of public opinion went the other way

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for temporizer
Noun
  • To longtime observers, however, Fetterman has always been a bit of a chameleon.
    Hanna Trudo, The Hill, 16 Jan. 2025
  • For that matter, most critics are aesthetic chameleons.
    Jesse Green, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • This wasn’t the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz or other bottom-feeder team the New York Knicks have faced in recent weeks.
    James L. Edwards III, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025
  • He’s been a significant reason the Penguins have gone from a bottom-feeder going into Thanksgiving week to a postseason contender heading into the New Year.
    Rob Rossi, The Athletic, 28 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Governor Gavin Newsom has deployed the California National Guard and military police to LA County to protect residents from looters, arsonists, and other criminal opportunists.
    John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
  • The cynical case is that Zuckerberg is a hollow opportunist who wishes to ingratiate himself with the new administration.
    The Editors, National Review, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Taxonomic charts on the walls borrow the aesthetic of science but are populated with terms from the history of art and absurd twists: a bird is labeled with the names of 20th-century avant-garde movements, a shark is juxtaposed with a rolling pin and a cola bottle.
    Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Unless Jordan got eaten by a shark or something like that, there was no catching him — and even the shark would've probably had a tough time catching him.
    Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 9 Jan. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near temporizer

Cite this Entry

“Temporizer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/temporizer. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.

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