Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

idiot savant

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.70 in modern English

Syllables: id-iot sa-vant
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A person who exhibits an extraordinary ability in one subject (often mathematics) while being intellectually disabled in many other domains.

Derogatory

Example Sentences

"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."

Etymology

From French idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: *seh₁p-, idiot savant

Usage

Derogatory

Inflected Forms

idiots savants (plural) idiot savants (plural)

Synonyms

autistic savant

Questions

What does idiot savant mean?: A person who exhibits an extraordinary ability in one subject (often mathematics) while being intellectually disabled in many other domains.
Where does idiot savant come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce idiot savant

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