SINCE 1828
autistic savant
nounDefinition of autistic savant
: a person affected with autism who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (such as mathematics or music)
She is not just autistic but an autistic savant, meaning that she has unusual cognitive abilities, such as a photographic memory and excellent spatial skills.— Kat McGowan
Examples of autistic savant in a Sentence
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Denzel Washington is wonderfully cast against type as the title character, an autistic savant with a radical streak. — Chris Ball, cleveland.com, "James Franco in 'The Deuce,' now on DVD and Blu-ray (review)," 16 Feb. 2018 Alexander is what’s know as an autistic savant, with perfect pitch, a near-photographic memory for music and a surprising facility with the saxophone and piano. — Pam Kragen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Poway teen with autism heading to Carnegie Hall," 26 Jan. 2018 Autism lit is not without controversy: Many readers object to the prevalence of the autistic savant. — Donna Levin, Smithsonian, "Why Your Next Favorite Fictional Protagonist Might Be on the Autism Spectrum," 24 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'autistic savant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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