sense of déjà vu
4
6.6
- noun
- /sɛns əv deɪˈʒɑː vu/
:
sensación de déjà vu
- She paused in front of the painting, struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu as if she had seen it before.
- a strong sense of déjà vu
Examples
-
The Iranian public, meanwhile, could be forgiven for feeling a strong sense of déjà vu.
Academic text (2004) -
Now, from reading that piece in The Independent of 20 March 2000, I get this sense of déjà vu all over again.
Blog text (14) -
I just got a weird sense of déjà vu.
-
So fast forward with me to now and imagine the sense of déjà vu.
Academic text (2009) -
I just had a weird sense of déjà vu.
Fiction book (1992) -
Okay, this is weird; I read this entire post with a really strong sense of déjà vu.
Blog text (6) -
I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Blog text (1) -
Reading this email trail gave me a distinct sense of déjà vu.
Blog text (15) -
Thinking these thoughts, I am swept by a sense of déjà vu.
Fiction book (1993) -
Miss Barnes, why am I feeling a sense of déjà vu?
Synonyms
36
6.9
A feeling that a new situation seems to have happened before
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
sense + of + déjà + vu
The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'sense of' (a feeling) combined with 'déjà vu' which literally means 'already seen' yields the meaning 'a feeling of having already experienced this.' Although 'déjà' and 'vu' are French loanwords, if a learner knows their literal meanings the overall sense is directly derivable and mirrors cross-linguistic patterns of expressing prior-seen experiences.
Etymology
Sense of déjà vu comes from French words that mean 'already seen'. It gives a clear picture: you feel like you are seeing the same moment again even though it is new. That's why the phrase means 'the strange feeling that a current situation has already happened'.