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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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
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But Patrick Mahomes, who tore his ACL last December, is ahead of schedule and will likely be under center when these two teams square off in early November.—
Antwan Staley,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
-
The tension spilled into election issues, including accusations that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized ballots in a voter‑fraud investigation, now at the center of a legal fight with the state attorney general.—
James Ward,
USA Today,
15 May 2026
Noun
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At the same time, Anthropic argued that the US still holds several major advantages, including stronger chip ecosystems, leading AI companies, and broader access to capital for large-scale AI infrastructure.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
14 May 2026
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Legislation in Louisiana seeks to address the Supreme Court ruling by scrapping a district that snakes over 200 miles (321 kilometers) northwest from the capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport, creating a voting bloc with a majority of Black residents.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
Noun
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Once the snow melts, the resort transforms into a downhill mountain biking mecca featuring more than 80 miles of singletrack.—
Sharael Kolberg,
Travel + Leisure,
12 May 2026
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Once regarded as a mecca for luxury shopping, drawing visitors from across Chicagoland to experience a level of polish few suburban malls could hope to surpass, Northbrook Court today is something akin to a retail wasteland.—
Audrey Pachuta,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
Noun
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Built from the bones of a 12th-century hostelry, its hub is a vast, glamorous lounge bar complete with mixologists shaking modern-day mocktails under the ancient beams.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 May 2026
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Riyadh ordered government entities to freeze payments to strategy advisers, management consultants, and law firms, which were central to the kingdom’s efforts to reinvent its economy and become a global business and entertainment hub, Semafor reported.—
Semafor Events,
semafor.com,
22 May 2026
Noun
-
The Ducks have high-ceiling youngsters blossoming into stars who should be the nucleus of future playoff teams.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
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Many of the neurons that use dopamine reside in the basal ganglia which are nuclei located deep in the lamprey brain.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 May 2026
Noun
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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
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To those in the know, the pregnancy statues themselves also telegraph self-love, even if the result is (quite literally) navel-gazey.—
Elizabeth Kiefer,
Architectural Digest,
8 May 2026
Noun
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The South Terrace, with bucolic and far-reaching views, is already the locus of socialising spilling down to the 25-meter pool.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 May 2026
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The scientists identified 79 loci, or the location of a gene on a chromosome, that qualify as risk variants.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Omphalos.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/omphalos. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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