carpetbagger

noun

car·pet·bag·ger | \ ˈkär-pət-ˌba-gər

Definition of carpetbagger

1 : a Northerner in the South after the American Civil War usually seeking private gain under the reconstruction governments

2 : outsider especially : a nonresident or new resident who seeks private gain from an area often by meddling in its business or politics

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Examples of carpetbagger in a Sentence

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Evangelicals portray Hollywood as an elitist carpetbagger peddling bankrupt morals. — Jeffrey Fleishman, latimes.com, "Georgia's abortion ban forces political reckoning among TV and film workers," 23 June 2019 Evangelicals portray Hollywood as an elitist carpetbagger peddling bankrupt morals. — Jeffrey Fleishman, chicagotribune.com, "Georgia’s abortion ban forces political reckoning among TV and film workers," 24 June 2019 Westlands Water District often is viewed as a carpetbagger in these parts. — Ryan Sabalow And Dale Kasler, sacbee, "This one stretch of river could decide the future of Shasta Dam | The Sacramento Bee," 7 May 2018 Morrisey seems like a replacement-level Republican, to be quite honest, and he was attacked in the GOP primary for being a bit of a carpetbagger and for his family’s links to an opioid manufacturer. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "The 10 most important Senate elections, briefly explained," 18 Sep. 2018 Scathing, personal attacks certainly did their damage to state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who was portrayed as an ethically challenged carpetbagger by his rivals, Rep. Evan Jenkins and businessman Don Blankenship. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "Power Rankings: Not so peachy primaries," 9 July 2018 But his loyal following has challenged Cox at every turn, dismissing him as a carpetbagger and a secret liberal. — Alexei Koseff, sacbee, "Who is John Cox? Trump-backed Republican faces Newsom in California's governor race," 6 June 2018 Meanwhile, backers of Villaraigosa — who is scrapping with Cox for the second spot in the primary — are airing an ad on Fox News and other stations that paints Cox as a Chicago carpetbagger and onetime Democrat who can't win elections. — Phil Willon, latimes.com, "Trump endorses Republican John Cox for California governor," 19 May 2018 Rosendale moved to Montana from Maryland nearly 20 years ago, but Fagg is a fourth-generation Montanan and is painting Rosendale as a carpetbagger. — Tara Golshan, Vox, "June 5 primary: live results for key races in California, New Jersey, South Dakota, New Mexico, Iowa, and Montana," 5 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carpetbagger.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.