déjà vu
[ dey-zhah voo, vyoo; French dey-zha vy ]
/ ˌdeɪ ʒɑ ˈvu, ˈvyu; French deɪ ʒa ˈvü /
noun
Psychology.
the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.
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.
Origin of déjà vu
1900–05; < French: literally, already seen
Words nearby déjà vu
décor,
dégagé,
dégringolade,
déjeuner,
déjeuner à la fourchette,
déjà vu,
déjà vu phenomenon,
démarche,
démenti,
démodé,
dénouement
British Dictionary definitions for deja vu
déjà vu
/ (ˈdeɪʒæ ˈvuː, French deʒa vy) /
noun
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
Word Origin for déjà vu
from French, literally: already seen
Cultural definitions for deja vu
déjà vu
[ (day-zhah vooh) ]
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.”