idiot savant
Genius with deficits
An idiot savant is a person with significant intellectual disability who nonetheless displays extraordinary ability in a narrow domain—often music, mathematics, art, or calendar calculation.
The French term (literally "learned idiot") is now considered offensive; *savant syndrome* is preferred in clinical contexts.
The phrase persists in casual use to describe anyone with remarkable talent in one area despite apparent deficits elsewhere: He's an idiot savant—can't boil water but builds working computers from scraps.
- autisticHaving a developmental neurotype
- simpletonUnintelligent person
- eidetic memoryFlawless detailed instant recall
- memory palaceSpatial mnemonic system
- hyperlexiaAdvanced decoding, impaired comprehension
gifted · whiz · virtuoso · artist · musical genius · perfect pitch · Rain Man · mathematician · intellectual disability · intellect · Asperger's syndrome · Down syndrome · musician · mathematical genius · neurodivergence · fool · synesthesia · artistic talent
- wise foolsjester, court fool, holy fool
idiot savantpolymath
Multi-domain expert
Renaissance man · Renaissance woman · generalist · jack of all trades · all-rounder
idiot savantpolymath
Multi-domain expert
genius · universalist · complete package · total package · prodigy
idiot, idiots, idiotic, idiotically, idiocy, savant, savants