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’s déjà vu all over again,” said Mansoor, who was a brigade commander in Iraq shortly after the 2003 invasion and later a top aide to Gen. David Petraeus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

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 • Feb. 17, 2026

If that feels like déjà vu, you aren’t imagining it.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

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.”

From MarketWatch • Nov. 25, 2025

I’m having déjà vu to the time Brian walked into the kitchen when Mom was baking.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson