Define Carpetbagger

Someone who tries to be elected as a politician in a place away from their home because they.

Define carpetbagger.

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. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. 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. A politician who takes up residence in a place and runs for office without having strong ties to the area.

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. Carpetbagger definition is a northerner in the south after the american civil war usually seeking private gain under the reconstruction governments.