savant

American  

[sa-vahnt, sav-uhnt, sa-vahn] / sæˈvɑnt, ˈsæv ənt, saˈvɑ̃ /

noun

• savants
  plural

1. a person of profound or extensive learning; learned scholar.

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savant British  

/ ˈsævənt, savɑ̃ /

noun

1. a man of great learning; sage

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• savante
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• savants
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of savant

1710–20; < French: man of learning, scholar, old present participle of savoir to know ≪ Latin sapere to be wise; see sapient

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Explanation

You know that girl in your school with a 4.0 GPA? She is a savant in the making. A savant is someone over-the-top smart, a scholar. It might take a savant only five minutes to do an entire math test. Savant is the French word for "learned" and it goes back to the Latin word sapere, "to be wise." In English, a savant can be someone is who is wise and learned in general, or someone who is extremely skilled in a particular area, like your little brother who can rattle off the first three hundred digits of pi.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

savant savants

During an interview with the Zach Sang show in 2024, she spoke about a song called Fantasize, written with Swedish pop savant Max Martin, which went viral after being posted online.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Although Brian Wilson was widely regarded as a musical savant and the innovator of the group, Love received co-writing credit on classics including “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Don’t deploy AI minions to “do the boring work” for you, as so many sales pitches argue; use it as a savant collaborator to explore uncertainty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

An Alabama-born engineer seen as a supply-chain savant, Tim Cook took on the daunting challenge of succeeding Apple's iconic boss Steve Jobs 15 years ago.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

She doesn’t say genius, or savant, or prodigy.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

When Matisse Thybulle was asked what it has been like trying to defend offensive savants Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves during the Lakers training camp, he shook his head and smiled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

The few perceived as AI savants can command multimillion-dollar pay packages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025

“Oh, Mary!” is the kind of instant sensation that’s all too rare these days, one so undeniable it immediately breaks through the crowd of theater savants to a wider audience of curious patrons.

From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2025

For the sibling pop savants, work and family have long been intertwined.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2024

When we speak, especially in connection with politics, of doctrinaires, theorists, savants, and so forth, we mean pedants, that is, persons who know the things well in the abstract, but not in the concrete.

From The World As Will And Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer

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