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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Belly snaps at Taylor for her TikTok therapy and her selfishness, at which point Steven bursts in to defend Taylor and announce that Jere’s back.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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And now, his selfishness might cost their family that clan.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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On the surface, vanity PR may look good.—
Jenna Guarneri,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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The report suggests there could also be other operating issues with the vehicle's DC/AC inverter, glove box light, vanity lights, dome lamps, alarm portion of the horn, rear defrost, or the USB charger.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The film’s non-judgmental narration — read by Jacek Zubiel — comments on the characters’ innermost thoughts along the way, adding to the general patina of narcissism without pointing fingers or placing blame.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
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The study also highlighted that self-love and narcissism are opposites.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There are moments, of course, especially with characters like Ken (Tim Key), a middle manager with an outsized ego who routinely makes a mess of things, but tonally this is a very different show than its predecessor.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
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Children being raised in different homes can still have positive outcomes if both parents are willing to put their egos aside and do the self-work needed to show up as the healthy adults their kids deserve.—
Essence,
Essence,
2 Sep. 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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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
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She’s played by an A-list celebrity — Cate Blanchett — operating in a city renowned for its self-involvement and privilege.—
Lorraine Ali,
Los Angeles Times,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Navel-gazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/navel-gazing. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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