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
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
If the idea of a deep dive into the pop-culture Zeitgeist of Obama’s presidency feels like an exhausting amount of navel-gazing, well, nothing could be more true to the spirit of the time.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 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
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
If the idea of a deep dive into the pop-culture Zeitgeist of Obama’s presidency feels like an exhausting amount of navel-gazing, well, nothing could be more true to the spirit of the time.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 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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In seven preceding episodes, Season 3 zoomed in on the insecurities, selfishness, and devious choices of a wide-ranging ensemble cast.—
Hannah Giorgis,
The Atlantic,
7 Apr. 2025
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The level of cartoonish selfishness and narcissism these late-capitalistic nightmares are granted here, however, starts to tip into a level that pitches everything into omnishambles territory.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Although technology is a ubiquitous part of this production, the piece has practically nothing to say about it, other than acknowledging its mere existence — technology is related to vanity, and a front-facing selfie camera is like a mirror.—
Christian Lewis,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2025
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That has real implications for brand deals and CPM negotiations — but risks creating a new layer of noise and vanity metrics in the creator economy.—
Ian Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Emotional manipulation is very common in people with personality disorders like narcissism, Giolitti-Wright adds.—
Christina Pérez,
Vogue,
12 Apr. 2025
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The reality was that Mavis’s mother didn’t have much time for her, being—like the grandmother in the story—not very maternal, though, in her case, this was attributable not to rigidity but to narcissism.—
Margaret Atwood,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Consider: One of the key reasons Salke was hired away from NBC seven years ago was because she was known as a talent-friendly exec who knew how to massage the egos of the writers, actors, and producers who keep Hollywood running.—
Josef Adalian,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
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Of course, there are cases where a healthy ego is necessary.—
Stephanie Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But, sometimes, accomplishment and self-absorption can go together.—
Jed Brewer,
Rolling Stone,
1 Apr. 2025
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In the view of Georgie’s daughter, Suke Wolton, who teaches politics at Oxford, her late mother found Foster’s self-absorption a little hard to take.—
Ian Parker,
The New Yorker,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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But there’s no monopoly on self-involvement, in my experience.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
28 Jan. 2025
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At the far opposite end of the adulthood spectrum is Jeff (Alex Wolff), a floppy mess of romantic misadventures and extravagant self-involvement and possibly the world’s most distracted producer.—
Sheri Linden,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Navel-gazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/navel-gazing. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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