Did you know that déjà vu has an opposite?

Ever talked to a friend and suddenly, yet briefly, their face seemed unfamiliar? Or stepped into a room you’ve frequented, but it feels strangely foreign? Or maybe you’ve stared at a word, and you know what it means, but it just doesn’t look right?

It’s called Jamais Vu, our Word for Week 5 of WordWise Wednesdays!

It’s a French phrase that translates to “never seen.” Instead of making the new feel familiar, it does the opposite. Something you know perfectly well suddenly feels unfamiliar, strange, or somehow wrong.

Jamais vu is when a person momentarily does not recognise a word, person, or place they already know. This odd feeling lasts only a few seconds or minutes before dissipating.

The term jamais vu comes from French, where jamais means “never & Vu means “to see”. In1907, the psychologist Margaret Floy Washburn described this effect as a “loss of associative power.”

Jamais Vu can happen in several situations:

1. You walk into your home, and the decor & flooring somehow feel eerily new

2. You’re typing or reading a common word like “the”, “her”, or “door,” and suddenly it looks wrong, like it’s misspelt or in a foreign language. Try it out! Write any word repeatedly on a piece of paper for about a minute or two, and see what it says or does to you

3. You’re having a conversation with a friend when their face suddenly seems unrecognisable.

The sudden sense that something is wrong or unfamiliar forces us to pause and re-examine what we are doing. In that sense, the eerie feeling of unreality may actually act as a kind of reality check for the brain.

Jamais Vu is not simply about words losing their meaning. Instead, it’s about a temporary disruption in the processes that normally generate our sense of familiarity.

Did you ever feel Jamais Vu? Share your experience in the comments