noun
deja vu
DAY-zhah VOO
Deja vu (noun) means the strange feeling that you have already lived through the present moment before, even though you know you have not. Example: “Walking into the empty station, I had a powerful sense of deja vu.”
noun
1
The strange feeling that you have already lived through the present moment before, even though you know you have not.
"Walking into the empty station, I had a powerful sense of deja vu."
"Deja vu usually lasts only a few seconds and then fades."
2
informal The tiresome sense that something happening now is a repeat of something that happened before.
"Another leadership crisis in October — it was deja vu all over again."
How to use deja vu
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe odd feeling that this has all happened before.
When to use it
Neutral; the 'tiresome repeat' sense is informal and often journalistic.
Memory tip
It is uncountable in normal use: say a sense of deja vu rather than a deja vu.
Trace the full origin ↓
Easily confused with
Common pairings
a sense of deja vu
a feeling of deja vu
experience deja vu
deja vu all over again
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Walking into the empty station, I had a powerful sense of _____.
Etymology
From French déjà vu, literally 'already seen'.
Synonyms
View more →Related words
Frequently asked questions
What causes deja vu?
There is no single settled explanation. The leading accounts involve a brief mismatch in how the brain handles memory and recognition, so a new scene is tagged as familiar. It is common in healthy people, especially younger adults, and is only a medical concern when it is frequent and comes with other symptoms of seizure.
What is the difference between deja vu and jamais vu?
Deja vu is finding something new oddly familiar. Jamais vu is the reverse — a familiar word, face or place suddenly feeling completely strange, as when a common word stops looking like a real word.
Should it be written with accents?
In careful writing the French accents are usual: déjà vu. Plain deja vu is widely accepted in everyday English and is what most people type.
What is the meaning of deja vu?
"deja vu" (noun) means the strange feeling that you have already lived through the present moment before, even though you know you have not.
