jamais vu

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French jamais (“never”) + vu (“seen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʒɑː.meɪ ˈvuː/

Noun

jamais vu (uncountable)

1. A sense of unfamiliarity with, or of never having experienced or seen before, something that should be familiar.
   • 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22:

     The subtle, recurring confusion between illusion and reality that was characteristic of paramnesia fascinated the chaplain, and he knew a number of things about it. He knew, for example, that it was called paramnesia, and he was interested as well in such corollary optical phenomena as jamais vu, never seen, and presque vu, almost seen.

Related terms

• déjà vu
• presque vu

Translations

Translations

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 未視感 / 未视感 (wèishìgǎn)