navel-gazing

[ ney-vuhl-gey-zing ]

/ ˈneɪ vəlˌgeɪ zɪŋ /

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noun Slang.

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of navel-gazing

First recorded in 1955–60; navel + gaz(e) + -ing¹; 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….”

Words nearby navel-gazing

navarin, Navarino, Navarre, nave, navel, navel-gazing, navel ill, navel orange, navelwort, navette, navew

How to use navel-gazing in a sentence

Genuinely funny and intelligent and navel-gazing and strange, these parts might eventually add up to something truly big.
Lars Iyer’s ‘Wittgenstein Jr.’ Plumbs the Deep Fun of Philosophical Fiction|Drew Smith|October 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But it's also kind of fun to make fun of the navel-gazing-ness of some of it.
Wolfgang's Revolution, at Your Gates|Katie Workman|July 28, 2009|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for navel-gazing

navel-gazing

noun

informal self-absorbed behaviour

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012