quick study

Noun

quick study (plural quick studies)

1. (idiomatic) One who is capable of learning at a fast pace; a fast learner.
   • Gilpatric assumed that his own prior experience would give him an early advantage over McNamara, but this proved erroneous, as McNamara was a quick study and soon got a fix on the management and organization of the Defense Department.1981, Douglas Kinnard, Secretary of Defense, page 78

   Antonyms:

   slow study

2. (obsolete) An actor who is able to learn their lines in a short amount of time.
   • 'I mustn't be cracking jokes though, for I've got a part of twelve lengths here, which I must be up in tomorrow night, and I haven't had time to look at it yet; I'm a confounded quick study, that's one comfort.'1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “chapter 23”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC
   • ... She is a quick study --' 'A what?' 'Learns her part rapidly, I mean. ...1880, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Belgravia, volume XL, page 80
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see quick, study.