déjà vu

or de·ja vu

[ dey-zhah voo, vyoo; French 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

He discusses the film, his Homeland Security fiasco, and why seeing Iraq in the news is giving him an awful sense of déjà vu.

From The Daily Beast

And yet, this almost-unfathomable plot somehow manages to elicit a sense of déjà vu.

From The Daily Beast

For Rich Tafel, the news from Texas brings a feeling of déjà vu.

From The Daily Beast

Governments throughout Europe are having their Weimer moment—déjà vu with potentially ruinous consequences.

From The Daily Beast

And anyone in Europe with a sense of history has a very uneasy feeling of déjà vu.

From The Daily Beast

If they illustrate the déjà vu, they also illustrate the fond discrepancies of all such narratives.

From Project Gutenberg

On the same plane as the dreams which we have been examining is the waking sensation of the déjà vu.

From Project Gutenberg