navel-gazing

American  

[ney-vuhl-gey-zing] / ˈneɪ vəlˌgeɪ zɪŋ /

noun

Slang.

1. excessive absorption in self-analysis or focus on a single issue.

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navel-gazing British  

noun

1. informal self-absorbed behaviour

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Etymology

Origin of navel-gazing

First recorded in 1955–60; navel ( def. ) + gaz(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ); perhaps from Hours With the Mystics (1856) by Robert Alfred Vaughan, English Congregationalist minister and author (1823–57), “...if a man shut himself up… turning his thoughts inward, gazing towards his navel..., he would at length behold a divine glory….”

Example Sentences

Sometimes his neurotic, navel-gazing side gets the better of his artistry, as was the case at his concert at the Greek Theatre in the summer of 2024.

From Los Angeles Times

The government source said there had been "a lot of navel-gazing" about what Caerphilly means for Labour, including "people chipping in who didn't knock a door".

From BBC

In its short history, Wikipedia has had its fair share of navel-gazing controversies—an entry detailing them has almost 400 footnotes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Are Scots 'navel-gazing' or are things that bad in Europe?

From BBC

“The idealism of the 1960s was yielding to the materialism of the 1980s, a new preoccupation with the navel-gazing, ego-stroking life,” Grynbaum writes.

From Los Angeles Times