déjà vu

Or de·ja vu

[dey-zhah voo, vyoo, dey-zha vy]

noun

1. Psychology.,  the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.

2. disagreeable familiarity or sameness.

   The new television season had a sense of déjà vu about it—the same old plots and characters with new names.

3. the sense or feeling of having previously experienced something that really has been encountered before.

   It was déjà vu at the bobsled track today as the U.S. team again claimed the top podium positions.

déjà vu

/ ˈdeɪʒæ ˈvuː, deʒa vy /

noun

1. the experience of perceiving a new situation as if it had occurred before. It is sometimes associated with exhaustion or certain types of mental disorder

déjà vu

1. The strange sensation that something one is now experiencing has happened before: “I knew I had never been in the house before, but as I walked up the staircase, I got a weird sense of déjà vu.” From French, meaning “already seen.”

Spelling Note

See resume ².

Word History and Origins

Origin of déjà vu¹

First recorded in 1900–05; from French: literally, “already seen”

Word History and Origins

Origin of déjà vu¹

from French, literally: already seen

Example Sentences

Those with memories of a bear market have a “malaise that comes with the instantly gone, flickering feeling of déjà vu: We have all been here before.”

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Reading the paper, I was struck by a sense of déjà vu.

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When “Rebuilding” premiered at Sundance in January, Southern California festivalgoers couldn’t help but feel a queasy déjà vu: The Eaton and Palisades fires were still raging, destroying communities and displacing so many.

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At a Ukrainian power plant repeatedly battered by Russian missile and drone barrages, the staff have a sense of deja vu.

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“The best I can say about bundles is déjà vu,” Proulx said.

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