carpetbagger
/ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/
"carpetbagger" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carpetbagger” is uncommon English (frequency #95,802 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #95,802
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carpetbagger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #95,802 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “carpetbagger” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
carpetbagger is uncommon English at frequency #95,802 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for carpetbagger in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From carpetbag + -er, because many carried their belongings in cheap luggage made from carpet fabric. The correct English form is carpetbagger, spelled C-A-R-P-E-T-B-A-G-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2One 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.
Etymology
From carpetbag + -er, because many carried their belongings in cheap luggage made from carpet fabric.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “carpetbagger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-R-P-E-T-B-A-G-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɑɹpɪtˌbæɡɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.