carpetbagger
noun
Simple meaning
An outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahrpuhtbagerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑɹpətbæɡɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously
“After the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: An outsider who seeks power or success presumptuously
Used this way, carpetbagger is a specialist word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
“After the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south.”
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Successful and accomplished
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use carpetbagger
- “After the Civil War the carpetbaggers from the north tried to take over the south.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.