navel-gazing

navel-gazing
noun
literally, the contemplation of one's navel, which is an idiom usually meaning complacent self-absorption
Syn: ↑omphaloskepsis
Hypernyms: ↑self-absorption

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ˈnavel-gazing 7 [navel-gazing] noun uncountable (disapproving)
the fact of thinking too much about a single issue and how it could affect you, without thinking about other things that could also affect the situation

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • navel-gazing — ► NOUN ▪ absorption in oneself or a single issue …   English terms dictionary

  • navel-gazing — N UNCOUNT (disapproval) If you refer to an activity as navel gazing, you are critical of it because people are thinking about something for a long time but take no action on it. She dismisses the reform process as an exercise in collective navel… …   English dictionary

  • navel-gazing — sitting and looking at your own navel, contemplating your own existence    Have you nothing better to do than to sit there navel gazing? No …   English idioms

  • navel-gazing — gaze at/contemplate (your) navel to spend too much time thinking about yourself and your own problems. He s a man of action and navel gazing has never been his style …   New idioms dictionary

  • navel-gazing — na·vel gaz·ing (nāʹvəl gā zĭng) n. Slang Excessive introspection, self absorption, or concentration on a single issue: “The optimistic trend masks a looming problem, which has sent the travel industry into a renewed bout of navel gazing”… …   Universalium

  • navel-gazing — /ˈneɪvəl geɪzɪŋ/ (say nayvuhl gayzing) noun Colloquial excessive introspection. {from a stereotyped view of meditation practices as involving staring at one s navel} …  

  • navel-gazing — noun Date: 1963 useless or excessive self contemplation …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • navel-gazing — noun Excessive focus on oneself; introspection. Syn: omphaloskepsis …   Wiktionary

  • navel-gazing — na|vel gaz|ing [ neıvl,geızıŋ ] noun uncount INFORMAL the act of spending a lot of time thinking about your own problems, or one issue, but not doing anything about them …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • navel-gazing — (Slang) absorption in oneself; useless self absorption; excessive introspection …   English contemporary dictionary

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