Etymology Unadapted borrowing from French déjà vu (literally “already seen”), coined by Émile Boirac in Revue philosophique de la France et de l'étranger, 1876.
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Usually The subjective, unexpected feeling of having experienced something before, especially when that is not the case.
Why did some déjà vus pattern or pulse at certain peak moments and not others?1996, José Argüelles, “The Secret Time Sharers and the Discovery of the Pulsar Code”, in The Arcturus Probe: Tales and Reports of an Ongoing Investigation, Flagstaff, Ariz.: Light Technology Publishing, →ISBN, part one (Launching the Probe), page 11:
He had to get back. Soon. All these déjà vus were killing him.2005, Lynn Kurland, chapter 27, in Dreams of Stardust, New York, N.Y.: Jove Books, →ISBN, page 271:
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A few times she mentioned that she’d been having constant déjà vus. She hoped it wasn’t a symptom of a tumor or early-onset dementia.2008, Francine Prose, chapter 4, in Goldengrove: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: HarperLuxe, →ISBN, page 83:
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Usually Loosely or humorously, anything one has done before or is being repeated.
Etymology Unadapted borrowing from French déjà vu (literally “already seen”), coined by Émile Boirac in Revue philosophique de la France et de l'étranger, 1876.
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Colloquial To experience déjà vu; to see (something) as though having seen it before.
Still deja vuing, I said, “Jinx. You owe me a Coke.”2008, Darren Lamere, Eerily Familiar:
Trees looked familiar, moments of landscape were perfectly déjà-vued.2011, Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Tenth Anniversary Edition), William Morrow 2011, p. 139