carpetbagger

car·pet·bag·ger

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [kahr-pit-bag-er]
- /ˈkɑr pɪtˌbæg ər/
- /ˈkɑː.pɪtˌbæɡ.ər/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [kahr-pit-bag-er]
- /ˈkɑr pɪtˌbæg ər/

Definitions of carpetbagger word

countable noun carpetbagger If you call someone a carpetbagger, you disapprove of them because they are trying to become a politician in an area which is not their home, simply because they think they are more likely to succeed there. 3
noun carpetbagger a politician who seeks public office in a locality where he or she has no real connections 3
noun carpetbagger 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 3
noun carpetbagger a Northern White who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from Reconstruction 3
noun carpetbagger any of the Northern politicians or adventurers who went South to take advantage of unsettled conditions after the Civil War 3
noun carpetbagger any politician, promoter, etc. from the outside whose influence is resented 3

See all 13 definitions of carpetbagger

Information block about the term

Origin of carpetbagger

First appearance:

before 1865

One of the 28% newest English words

1865-70, Americanism; carpetbag + -er1; so called because they came South carrying their belongings in carpetbags

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Carpetbagger

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Carpetbagger

carpetbagger popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 46% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

carpetbagger usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for carpetbagger

noun carpetbagger

ingrate — an ungrateful person.
bounder — If you call a man a bounder, you mean he behaves in an unkind, deceitful, or selfish way.
go-getter — an enterprising, aggressive person.
timeserver — a person who shapes his or her conduct to conform to the opinions of the time or of persons in power, especially for selfish ends.
trimmer — the condition, order, or fitness of a person or thing for action, work, use, etc.

All 6 Synonyms of carpetbagger

Matching words

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