a singer-songwriter whose compositions are too often exercises in self-important navel-gazing
Recent Examples on the WebBut 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 To debate grand strategy is to indulge in navel-gazing while the world burns.—Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Affairs, 13 Apr. 2020 Claims that a political gerontocracy is somehow undermining American democracy — the theme of so much political navel-gazing — simply don’t hold water.—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2023 Books More navel-gazing, please.—Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 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.
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