careerist
(kəˈrɪərɪst)
[f. career n. + -ist.]
A person (esp. a holder of a public or responsible position) who is mainly intent on the furtherance of his career, often in an unscrupulous manner. Also attrib. or as adj.
| [1910 H. G. Wells Mr. Polly vii. 225 He called him the ‘chequered Careerist’.] 1917 Times 5 June 7/2 Half the present unpopularity of the ‘lawyer-politician’..is due to the fact that he is too often a ‘carpet-bagger’ and a ‘careerist’. 1926 S. Jameson Three Kingdoms v. 153 I'm one of those damned careerist women. 1929 G. B. Shaw in Times 6 Aug., There were already..members of it [sc. the Labour party] who were ‘careerists’—men who wanted to have a political career and joined the party they thought would give them the best prospects. 1934 Punch 21 Mar. 336/2 He states plainly that he was a ‘careerist’, power and money were in his hands and it is no wonder that he was dazzled by them. 1940 G. Barker Lament & Triumph 15 The careerist politician and the vague thinker. 1969 Daily Tel. 4 Jan. 23/2 Accused..of being a ‘double-dealer’ and ‘political careerist’. |