carpetbagger
carpetbaggers
An outsider who pretends to be an insider is a carpetbagger; he's a person who tries to take advantage of a group by joining it only for his own personal benefit.
Northerners who moved south during Reconstruction in the 1860s and 70s were the original carpetbaggers, named for their suitcases. It was a derogatory term then, and it continues to be used with contempt today. You can use the noun carpetbagger to describe a politician who is running for governor in a state where he's only lived for six months.
Definitions of carpetbagger
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an outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously“after the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south”
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type of:
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opportunist, self-seeker
a person who places expediency above principle
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opportunist, self-seeker
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘carpetbagger'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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