idiot-savant

See also: idiot savant

English

Etymology

French, meaning "learned/scholarly idiot".

Noun

idiot-savant (plural idiots-savants)

  1. A mentally challenged person who is very gifted in one area of activity, e.g. playing the piano, or mental arithmetic. This condition is associated with autism.
    • 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎:
      That slightly wide-eyed boyishness has given him a career playing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, whether that be everyone's favourite idiot-savant Forrest Gump (1994), a pilot who saves the day in Sully (2016), or the beleaguered Captain Miller of Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Usage notes
  • The more current term is savant.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.