autistic savant

Definition 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

Recent Examples on the Web But Kayla Cromer and Maeve Press are just as charming as the sisters — one of whom is a high-functioning autistic savant, and the other of whom is a misfit teen struggling to fit in with her classmates. — Noel Murray, New York Times, "The Best Movies and TV Shows New to Netflix, Amazon and Stan in Australia in February," 9 Feb. 2020 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 2017

These 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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“Autistic savant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autistic%20savant. Accessed 14 Jul. 2020.

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autistic savant

noun

Medical Definition 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, Discover, April 2013 Only rarely does an autistic savant come along who can memorize a phone book in 10 minutes or measure the exact height of a building by glancing at it.— Geoffrey Cowley, Newsweek, 31 July 2000