Meanings
plural idiots savants · plural idiot savants
- derogatorypossiblyA 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)Synonyms: autistic savant
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who exhibits an extraordinary ability in one subject (often mathematics) while being intellectually disabled in many other domains.
Origin
- Frenchidiot savant
- Englishidiot savant
From French idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
idiot savant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiot%20savant
“idiot savant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiot%20savant. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idiot savant,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiot%20savant.
Source: idiot savant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.