Standard Lemma guide

carpetbagger

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/
  • UK: /ˈkɑːpɪtˌbaɡə/
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 R P AH0 T B AE2 G ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A migrant from the Northern to the Southern States after the American Civil War of 1861–5, especially one who went South to gain political influence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, offensive

Topics: government, history, human-sciences, politics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: damn Yankee, Yankee, person

2

noun

Meaning 2

One who comes to a place or organisation with which they have no previous connection with the sole or primary aim of personal gain, especially political or financial gain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

an outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • after the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: opportunist, self-seeker

History

Etymology

From carpetbag + -er, because many carried their belongings in cheap luggage made from carpet fabric.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: carpetbagger — An immigrant from the Northern to the Southern States after the American Civil War
  • French: opportuniste — One who comes to a place or organisation primarily or solely for personal gain
  • French: candidat parachuté — One who comes to a place or organisation primarily or solely for personal gain
  • Polish: spadochroniarz — One who comes to a place or organisation primarily or solely for personal gain
  • Spanish: teul — One who comes to a place or organisation primarily or solely for personal gain