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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But Friendship also let viewers see some of those Robinson character quirks as evidence of selfishness, male ego, and real mental instability.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
20 Oct. 2025
-
There is zero selfishness to his game, no holding back to prevent injury.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In the owner’s en suite, Heesen replaced one of the original dual toilets with a vanity area.—
Julia Zaltzman,
Robb Report,
27 Oct. 2025
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At the same time, invisibility has come as a relief, insofar as my vanity always kept company with self-consciousness and self-flagellation.—
Lucinda Rosenfeld,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In his nitpicking and narcissism, the relatability of his grievances and his unhinged methods of redressing them, Ron also resembles a younger, Middle American version of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm antihero.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
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Worse yet, the researchers found that AI brain rot brought out an LLM’s darkest traits, including higher rates of psychopathy and narcissism.—
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Bonitzer twists those facts into a story of clashing egos and huge commissions, with André doing his best to broker a sale while respecting the wishes of the paintings’ rightful heirs, as well of those of his money-hungry employer.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Oct. 2025
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Milei caters masterfully to Trump’s ego and will be president even if his party loses seats in Argentina’s legislature.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Scene by scene, Reichardt reminds of the world J.B., in his self-absorption, has been hiding out from.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
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That blindness, that self-absorption, has become your legacy.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
9 Oct. 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 3 Nov. 2025.
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