noun
carpetbagger
KAR-pit-bag-ur/ˈkɑːrpɪtbæɡər/
An outsider seeking political or economic advantage in a new place.
Critics dismiss the newly arrived candidate as a political carpetbagger.
Etymology
A carpetbag was a traveling case made of carpet fabric. The insult pictured Northern newcomers seeking gain in the postwar South arriving with everything in such a bag; it later broadened to opportunistic outsiders generally.
In context
carpetbagger was the name white southerners gave to northerners that moved into the south after the war motivated by economic opportunity …
More examples
- The historian examines accusations directed at Reconstruction-era carpetbaggers.
- Residents resent the developer as an opportunistic carpetbagger.
- He rejects the charge that he is a carpetbagger.
Forms
carpetbagger · carpetbaggers
Similar words
- opportunist
- Seeks personal advantage without necessarily being an outsider.
- outsider
- Comes from elsewhere without necessarily exploiting the situation.