brain drain
noun
Simple meaning
The migration of educated or talented people from less economically advanced areas to more economically advanced areas.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
brayndraynSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɹeɪndˈɹeɪn
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
idiomatic
The migration of educated or talented people from less economically advanced areas to more economically advanced areas, especially to large cities or more developed nations.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The migration of educated or talented people from less economically advanced areas to more economically advanced areas, especially to large cities or more developed nations.
Used this way, brain drain is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It quietly approves while staying precise.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Economical and restrained
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.