Synonyms
Examples of navel-gazing in a Sentence
a singer-songwriter whose compositions are too often exercises in self-important navel-gazing
Recent Examples on the Web
The calamitous results of this year’s European Parliamentary elections for Macron and Scholz could result in a prolonged period of French and German navel-gazing—and hence a lack of progress on many EU priorities.
—
Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2024
Critics sometimes derisively describe it as navel-gazing.
—Andrea Kane, CNN, 9 June 2024
In that sense, turning the camera back on one’s self shouldn’t qualify as navel-gazing.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 May 2024
But the voiceovers also feel like lumps of prose in a film too busy navel-gazing to build narrative shape or momentum.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
This is a coach who can’t see far enough past his own nose to understand that in moments of defeat, a coach’s sole job isn’t navel-gazing.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2023
The policy navel-gazing is centering around three debates.
—Jana Randow, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2023
Self-reliance was encouraged, but not introspection (navel-gazing, ugh).
—Sigrid Nunez, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023
It should be noted that there was plenty of navel-gazing and hand-wringing by the fashion press when the Pharrell news broke, but in a way, his appointment is simply the evolution of a narrative going back 100 years or more.
—Max Berlinger, Robb Report, 13 Aug. 2023
Matthias Matthijs, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2024
Critics sometimes derisively describe it as navel-gazing.
—Andrea Kane, CNN, 9 June 2024
In that sense, turning the camera back on one’s self shouldn’t qualify as navel-gazing.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 May 2024
But the voiceovers also feel like lumps of prose in a film too busy navel-gazing to build narrative shape or momentum.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
This is a coach who can’t see far enough past his own nose to understand that in moments of defeat, a coach’s sole job isn’t navel-gazing.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Nov. 2023
The policy navel-gazing is centering around three debates.
—Jana Randow, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2023
Self-reliance was encouraged, but not introspection (navel-gazing, ugh).
—Sigrid Nunez, Harper's Magazine, 16 Oct. 2023
It should be noted that there was plenty of navel-gazing and hand-wringing by the fashion press when the Pharrell news broke, but in a way, his appointment is simply the evolution of a narrative going back 100 years or more.
—Max Berlinger, Robb Report, 13 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'navel-gazing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near navel-gazing
Cite this Entry
“Navel-gazing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/navel-gazing. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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