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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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
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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for navel-gazing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for navel-gazing
Noun
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Later that day, Cynthia reportedly involved their mother, framing the situation as selfishness.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
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But according to this Reddit post, sending it out to friends and classmates adds a touch of selfishness.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
14 May 2025
Noun
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Fueled by new data and shifting cultural values, injectables are being redefined—not as vanity, but as a personalized pathway to confidence, wellness, and long-term care.—
Corein Carter,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
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In a hot pink colorway, the clutch will become your vanity’s newest conversation piece.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
22 May 2025
Noun
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In parenting and co-parenting relationships, narcissism may look like emotional invalidation or using guilt and manipulation to control behavior, McGovern adds.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
15 May 2025
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These findings suggest that while some dark triad cues may subtly show in facial appearance—particularly narcissism—the connection isn't consistent across traits or genders.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Just observationally, there seemed to be a very high crossover between those of you with the inflated ego to list 16 teams and those of you who thought Dallas was going to lose to Colorado.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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The result is an entirely incoherent crime thriller that features gangsters prattling on about the self and the ego and the soul and then occasionally wandering into an entirely different scene where other gangsters are prattling on about the same thing.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
27 May 2025
Noun
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His self-absorption, against the backdrop of such enormous loss, was particularly striking.—
Kevin Johnson,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
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But, sometimes, accomplishment and self-absorption can go together.—
Jed Brewer,
Rolling Stone,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But when we’re made to watch Tesfaye sing it in its entirety in an unbroken close-up while crying at the beauty of his own music, the introspection turns to simple self-involvement.—
Charles Bramesco,
IndieWire,
15 May 2025
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But her apparent passiveness is not as tragic as Bin’s self-involvement.—
Madeline Leung Coleman,
Vulture,
9 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Navel-gazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/navel-gazing. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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