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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of omphalos
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
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
-
Vote counting would begin immediately after the ballot boxes are collected and transported to counting centers across the Himalayan nation, which could be as early as Thursday night.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Astronomers captured the most detailed image yet of our galaxy’s center.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Shah, 35, former mayor of the capital city of Kathmandu, has dominated the race to become Nepal’s PM during the campaign, gaining popularity across the country.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Sri Lanka said more than 200 sailors aboard another Iranian warship near its coast were being escorted to a naval base outside the capital, Colombo.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Each January, that stillness is interrupted by the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, transforming a quiet alpine town, Davos, into a mecca of power.—
Victoria Bousis,
Rolling Stone,
9 Mar. 2026
-
That’s why the famed Trout Lily Trail in the West Palisades section of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta has become a spring mecca for many of us wildflower lovers.—
Charles Seabrook,
AJC.com,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Located on the third floor, this is the social hub of the hotel, with a bar, space for live performances, and a colorful dining room filled with sofas and armchairs.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Mar. 2026
-
Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!—
Chris McKeown,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Meanwhile, molecules involved in regulating the genome must be ushered into the nucleus preferentially.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
-
In the recent past, there have been a lot of those painful educational experiences for the franchise’s young nucleus.—
Jim Alexander,
Oc Register,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Hundreds of eyes go wide, taking in the warm sweep of my navel, my hips.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
-
Blood was drawn from his navel to evaluate his oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.—
Steven Levingston,
Vanity Fair,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Humans and golden retrievers were found to share common psychiatric-cognitive-temperamental loci.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Publishing my first novel, The Guineveres, seemed to be permission enough to keep writing—an external locus of validation that required nothing from my body but stillness.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Omphalos.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/omphalos. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
