as in selfness
excessive interest in oneself
a singer-songwriter whose compositions are too often exercises in self-important navel-gazing
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of navel-gazing
Beyond the lifeboat of major film festivals, which still assist a handful of buzzy international and independent films in their treacherous journey to release, such entities as the self-congratulatory, navel-gazing Oscars have seemingly abandoned the inclusion of riskier, daring films.
—
Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 25 Dec. 2024
Ortberg urged staff to focus on beating its French planemaker competitor Airbus instead of navel-gazing at its own issues.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 21 Nov. 2024
In the end, this leads to a novel that might be Murakami’s most navel-gazing work, and one that has the unmistakable feel of a coda.
—Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
That deserves far more digital ink to be spilled than the usual navel-gazing about how iPhones are boring.
—Steven Aquino, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for navel-gazing
Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 25 Dec. 2024
Ortberg urged staff to focus on beating its French planemaker competitor Airbus instead of navel-gazing at its own issues.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 21 Nov. 2024
In the end, this leads to a novel that might be Murakami’s most navel-gazing work, and one that has the unmistakable feel of a coda.
—Bailey Trela, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2024
That deserves far more digital ink to be spilled than the usual navel-gazing about how iPhones are boring.
—Steven Aquino, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for navel-gazing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for navel-gazing
Noun
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My downfall was rooted in my selfishness.—
Tracy Wright , Lauryn Overhultz,
FOXNews.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
My downfall was rooted in my selfishness.—
Lauren del Valle,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Play Tetris in your bathroom vanity or junk drawer with these versatile containers.—
Kate McGregor,
Architectural Digest,
8 Oct. 2025
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Stainless-steel twin vanities are tucked into niches at opposite ends of the 20-foot-long space, while the water closet and double shower are obscured behind frosted glass and metal doors.—
Mark David,
Robb Report,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The ’60s stood on the fault line between the culture of peace and love and what would become the culture of narcissism.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
9 Oct. 2025
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His narcissism, which tells him there will be no world after he is gone, does the same.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Both are ruggedly handsome, gruff and not short on ego.—
Peter Kiefer,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Oct. 2025
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The best chief executives know that there’s no place for ego in determining when to go; what matters is what’s best for the institution.—
Kurt Strovink,
Fortune,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Maybe the symptoms of his cognitive decline are inextricable from what seemed to you to be his general self-absorption and thoughtlessness.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
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Frost’s well is a modern version of Narcissus’ pool, and his poem is a meditation on self-absorption and its limits.—
A.O. Scott,
New York Times,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Wettig noted in an August 2009 interview with NPR that though Thirtysomething's characters were often accused of being narcissistic by critics, their self-involvement was also reflective of the time.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Sep. 2025
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In terms that viewers of the original series might understand, Esmeralda falls somewhere between the tyranny of Michael Scott, the absurdity of Dwight Schrute, and the self-involvement of Kelly Kapoor with a particular charisma that only Impacciatore could pull off.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Navel-gazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/navel-gazing. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
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