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

For thousands of manufacturers across China, it’s déjà vu—with implications for the country’s fragile economy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The current boom in artificial-intelligence stocks has provoked more than a bit of déjà vu for those who lived through the dot-com bubble that burst around the turn of the 21st century.

Read more on Barron's

For India, this brought a grim sense of déjà vu.

Read more on BBC

The postseason was déjà vu all over again, however, with the Oilers eliminating the Kings.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Sail back to the present day and you might be forgiven for getting a sense of déjà vu.

Read more on BBC