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Definition 2024
idiot_savant
idiot savant
See also: idiot-savant
English
Noun
idiot savant (plural idiots savants)
- A person who exhibits an extraordinary ability in one subject (often mathematics) whilst being mentally retarded in all other fields.
- 2014 May 11, Ivan Hewett, “Piano Man: a Life of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk, review: A new biography of the great British pianist whose own genius destroyed him [print version: A colossus off-key, 10 May 2014, p. R27]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
- The temptation is to regard him [John Ogdon] as an idiot savant, a big talent bottled inside a recalcitrant body and accompanied by a personality that seems not just unremarkable, but almost entirely blank.
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Synonyms
- autistic savant