bottom-feeder
idiomatic noun phrase

- an opportunist who seeks quick profit usually at the expense of others or from their misfortune

- one that is of the lowest status or rank

- a fish that feeds at the bottom

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

In biology, a "bottom-feeder" is usually an aquatic animal that feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water, such as an ocean, lake, river, or an aquarium. Examples of bottom feeding fish are flatfish (halibut, flounder, plaice, sole), eels, cod, haddock, bass, grouper, carp, bream (snapper) and some species of catfish and shark.

Bottom-feeders are popular aquarium fish as they act to “clean up” the tank by eating left-over food, biomass or algae that collects in the tank.

The figurative sense of bottom-feeder stems from this concept of a fish that feeds on the scraps left over by others. Because food scraps often lie on the bottom, mixed in with sediment and other less-appealing biomass, “bottom-feeder” has a negative connotation and is thus frequently associated with a person or a company that has a very bad reputation, i.e. investors who buy struggling companies with little consideration for the welfare of employees or the contribution to society.

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SYNONYMS

bottom-fisher, BOTTOM-FEEDER, bounder, chameleon, chancer, grifter, hustler, lowlife*, opportunist, scum*, self-seeker, sellout

*WARNING - Take care, especially when applied to a person, the terms “lowlife” and “scum” can be very offensive.

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“Do you think that BOTTOM-FEEDERS are inevitable in all social or economic systems?”

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