idiot savant
noun
idiot sa·vant
ˈi-dē-ət-sə-ˈvänt 
-ˈvant
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ
-ˈvant
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ
plural idiots savants
ˈi-dē-əts-sə-ˈvänt(s)
-ˈvant(s)
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ(z)
or idiot savants
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ(z)
-ˈvant(s)
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ(z)
or idiot savants
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ(z)
1
dated, now offensive
: savant sense 2
2
: a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else
Examples of idiot savant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But while there’s a veneer of innocence to these home movies—an air of the idiot savant’s capacity to unwittingly capture a glimpse of profundity—their most powerful valence is not one of innocence but of self-effacing knowledge.
—
Leslie Jamison, The New York Review of Books, 29 Apr. 2020
On the one hand, this understanding of AI as an idiot savant is perfectly sensible.
—James Vincent, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2018
Similarly, Yang's character Jian Yang is portrayed as an idiot savant, a mostly silent character there for Erlich (T.J. Miller, who was fired from the show) to mock.
—Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2018
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Leslie Jamison, The New York Review of Books, 29 Apr. 2020
On the one hand, this understanding of AI as an idiot savant is perfectly sensible.
—James Vincent, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2018
Similarly, Yang's character Jian Yang is portrayed as an idiot savant, a mostly silent character there for Erlich (T.J. Miller, who was fired from the show) to mock.
—Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, 7 Mar. 2018
Dictionary Entries Near idiot savant
Cite this Entry
“Idiot savant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idiot%20savant. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
idiot savant
noun
idiot sa·vant
ˈē-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ; ˈid-ē-ət-sə-ˈvänt, -ˈvant
plural idiots savants
-ˌdyō-sä-ˈväⁿ(z); -əts-sə-ˈvänt(s), -ˈvant(s)
or idiot savants
or idiot savants
dated, now offensive
: savant
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