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autistic savant

noun
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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

Recent Examples of autistic savant from the Web

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.

First Known Use of autistic savant

1978

in the meaning defined above

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Medical Dictionary

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

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