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

It felt like deja vu for Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe, given the manner of his side's 3-2 loss against Brentford at this stadium only a few weeks ago.

From BBC

“We had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu on opening Allianz’s FY 2025 results,” analysts Philip Kett and Derald Goh write.

From The Wall Street Journal

For Fernando Alonso, this all must come with an agonising sense of deja vu.

From BBC

It’s giving investors AWS déjà vu.

From MarketWatch

Plaid Cymru's Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts, said the announcement would "feel like déjà vu to many people in Wales", saying the new stations had already been announced in last year's Spending Review.

From BBC