Define Carpetbagger

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.

Define carpetbagger.

2003 2012 princeton university farlex inc. The term carpetbagger used exclusively as a pejorative term originated from the carpet bags a form of cheap luggage made from carpet fabric which many of these newcomers carried. After the civil war the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south opportunist self seeker a person who places expediency above principle based on wordnet 3 0 farlex clipart collection. Someone who tries to be elected as a politician in a place away from their home because they.

The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. Countable noun 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.