déjà vu

American  

[dey-zhah voo, vyoo, dey-zha vy] / ˌdeɪ ʒɑ ˈvu, ˈvyu, deɪ ʒa ˈvü /

Or deja vu

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.

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déjà vu British  

/ 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

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déjà vu Cultural  

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.”

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Spelling

See resume ².

Etymology

Origin of déjà vu

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

Example Sentences

If you have a sense of deja vu, it’s understandable.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026

Once back at CHLA, Olson experienced an intense feeling of deja vu.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

Sure enough, it’s deja vu all over again!

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

For Jan Rosenow, professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Oxford, the latest conflict prompted a sense of "deja vu", recalling 2022.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

Clearly, tonight was not the night the Villaboses and the Limons and the Martinezes would create a deja vu of the Townsends and the Taylors and the Frys.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger