Synonyms

brain drain

American

Or brain-drain

noun

a loss of trained professional personnel to another company, nation, etc., that offers greater opportunity.

brain drain British

noun

informal the emigration of scientists, technologists, academics, etc, for better pay, equipment, or conditions

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

brain drain Idioms

The departure of educated or talented persons for better pay or jobs elsewhere, as in The repression of free speech in Germany triggered a brain drain to Britain and America. The term originated about 1960, when many British scientists and intellectuals emigrated to the United States for a better working climate.

Etymology

Origin of brain drain

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The script burns so much energy trying to come up with a surprise that it suffers from brain drain.

From Los Angeles Times

The war also sparked a brain drain in Israel.

From Barron's

The brain drain has been catastrophic at the department, which is engulfed in personnel chaos.

From Salon

Experts also point to a low level of innovation and research spending, among the lowest in the EU, and relatively low pay for scientists, contributing to a "brain drain".

From Barron's

Like much of Europe, it has a rapidly ageing population, compounded by long-running brain drain as many working-age citizens have left to seek opportunities abroad.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023