brain trust

¹ American  

British, Brains Trust

noun

1. a group of experts from various fields who serve as unofficial consultants on matters of policy and strategy.

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brain-trust ² American  

[breyn-truhst] / ˈbreɪnˌtrʌst /

verb (used with object)

1. to serve as a brain trust or a brain truster for.

   They have brain-trusted many major corporations.

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brain trust ¹ Cultural  

1. A group of experts who serve as advisers to a government or an organization: “Before being appointed to the cabinet, Brown had been a leading figure in a financial brain trust.”

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brain trust ² Cultural  

1. A group of intellectuals and planners who act as advisers, especially to a government. The phrase is particularly associated with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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brain trust Idioms  

1. A group of experts who serve as unofficial but vital advisers. For example, Each town manager seemed to have his or her own brain trust, which of course changed with every election. This term, closely associated with President Franklin Roosevelt's advisers on domestic and foreign policy in the early 1930s, was first recorded in 1910.

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Etymology

Origin of brain trust

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

The council tends to serve as a brain trust to the White House on key issues around scientific developments, and the members typically reflect the priorities of the sitting president.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

Four parents, one a newcomer still acclimating to the school’s strenuously progressive rules, are part of the executive brain trust.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 17, 2025

Rexford Tugwell, Felix Frankfurter, Adolf Berle—acolytes of the brain trust that encircled the president—were plucked from schools like Columbia and Harvard.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

“There’s like a brain trust over there that he cultivates.”

From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2024

But being sent to sit with the brain trust located on the second floor of the building meant getting a close look at one of the most important and powerful groups at the laboratory.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly