carpetbagger
[ kahr-pit-bag-er ]
/ ˈkɑr pɪtˌbæg ər /
noun
U.S. History. a Northerner who went to the South after the Civil War and became active in Republican politics, especially so as to profiteer from the unsettled social and political conditions of the area during Reconstruction.
a politician who takes up residence in a place and runs for office without having strong ties to the area.
any opportunistic or exploitive outsider: Our bus company has served this town for years, but now the new one run by carpetbaggers from the city is stealing our business.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
carpet tiles, carpet, magic, carpet-bomb, carpet-sweeper, carpetbag, carpetbagger, carpetbaggers, carpeting, carpetweed, carphenazine maleate, carphology
Origin of carpetbagger
Related formscar·pet·bag·ger·y, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for carpetbagger
British Dictionary definitions for carpetbagger
carpetbagger
/ (ˈkɑːpɪtˌbæɡə) /
noun
a politician who seeks public office in a locality where he has no real connections
British a person who makes a short-term investment in a mutual savings or life-assurance organization in order to benefit from free shares issued following the organization's conversion to a public limited company
US a Northern White who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from Reconstruction
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for carpetbagger
carpetbagger
also carpet-bagger, 1868, American English, scornful appellation for Northerners who went South after the fall of the CSA seeking private gain or political advancement. The name is based on the image of men arriving with all their worldly goods in a big carpetbag. Sense later extended to any opportunist from out of the area.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper