carpetbagger Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously
    • after the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south

WordNet


Car"pet*bag"ger noun
Definitions
  1. An adventurer; -- a term of contempt for a Northern man seeking private gain or political advancement in the southern part of the United States after the Civil War (1865) used now for any politician moving to a new location to take advantage of more favorable chances for election. U. S.

Webster 1913