idiot savant en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Etymology
From French idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.
Meanings
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(derogatory, possibly) A person who exhibits an extraordinary ability in one subject (often mathematics) while being intellectually disabled in many other domains.
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.
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):
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| idiots savants | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| idiot savants | Number=Plur | lexicographic |