as in center
a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest
during the Vietnam War the university's campus effectively became the area's omphalos for antiwar activity
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of omphalos
While the rest of the world was in its accustomed turmoil, the Press, for which Ireland was the omphalos of the universe, took scant notice.
—
Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
While the temples have crumbled, seeing the omphalos gave me goose bumps, and left me awe-struck over Delphi’s sublime place in history.
—Liz Alderman, New York Times, 9 July 2019
Zeus marked the spot with a stone called the omphalos (navel), to signify the location’s centrality.
—National Geographic, 12 Mar. 2019
Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
While the temples have crumbled, seeing the omphalos gave me goose bumps, and left me awe-struck over Delphi’s sublime place in history.
—Liz Alderman, New York Times, 9 July 2019
Zeus marked the spot with a stone called the omphalos (navel), to signify the location’s centrality.
—National Geographic, 12 Mar. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for omphalos
Noun
-
Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body injury.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2026
-
Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency for Thursday and Friday, activating cooling centers, home visits by field teams, outreach to people experiencing homelessness and other services.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Its proximity to the fascinating capital of Kunming is also appealing for travelers who don’t intend to go to Tibet and never plan on leaving the city.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 June 2026
-
The missiles had been launched toward the Azraq area in the Zarqa governorate, which sits around 65 miles east of the country’s capital, Amman, the Jordanian armed forces said in a statement.—
Sarah Dean,
NBC news,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Shop windows and the local museum display crafts from this wood-carving mecca.—
Tribune News Service,
Baltimore Sun,
8 June 2026
-
The new hotel is also aiming to become a culinary mecca in Mallorca.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
30 May 2026
-
Archer is scaling for the mega sporting event and attempting to build an operational hub for the area's impending air taxi network.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Astronomers have discovered a distant quasar — or active nucleus of a galaxy — that's powered by a feeding supermassive black hole blasting out winds at record-breaking speeds of 30% the speed of light, around 201 million miles (323 million kilometers) per hour.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
9 June 2026
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This reaction results in a helium nucleus and releases a neutron and radiation.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
Noun
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The cutouts continued down until below the model's navel.—
Lori A Bashian,
FOXNews.com,
9 June 2026
-
Earlier that week, the lithe 28-year-old walked the film festival’s storied red carpet wearing a custom Vivienne Westwood tuxedo and, of course, a shirt unbuttoned almost to the navel.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
The result is a shift in the locus of error.—
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
-
Nagi is a farming village, a locus of military activity, and a place still largely in thrall to patriarchal dynamics.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Omphalos.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/omphalos. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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