These developers were accused of being exploiters, building luxury apartments at the expense of local residents.

exploiters 是名词 exploiter 的复数形式，由动词 exploit（剥削、利用）加上后缀 -er（表示"做某事的人"）构成，字面意思是"进行剥削的人"，指"剥削者"。 exploit 本身由前缀 ex-（向外）和词根 ploit（折叠、编织）组成，原意是"展开、开发"，后来引申为"利用资源"或"剥削他人"。