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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Sennott and her costars speak with an irritatingly fake affect, are shallower than a puddle in the desert and prize selfishness, indolence and artifice.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
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Further forward lies a galley, lobby, and an owner’s suite with an office, vanity, walk-in wardrobe, and en suite.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
4 Nov. 2025
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The camera then panned to her vanity to reveal a Sephora bag — teasing her new holiday brand deal — knocked over with some items missing.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
1 Nov. 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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That merely meant coach Brian Dutcher didn’t have to delicately parcel out playing time while massaging egos on his Mariana Trench-deep roster, and the bench shortened by circumstance delivered a 77-45 win powered by a pair of true freshmen and a typically frenetic defensive effort.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Nov. 2025
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With Venus in your career zone squaring Pluto in your sign, power struggles or clashes of ego could surface, especially if others project their expectations onto you.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 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 13 Nov. 2025.
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