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Glite Dictionary
navel-gazer

navel-gazer

1 9.6
A person who spends too much time thinking about their own feelings and ignores other people
  • noun
  • /ˈneɪvəlˌɡeɪzər/
  • Offensive
translation icon : persona que se mira el ombligo
  • His friends joked that he was a constant navel-gazer, too preoccupied with his own feelings to notice what was happening in their lives.

Examples

  • The philosopher was often criticized for being a navel-gazer, as he spent more time thinking about his ideas than engaging with others.

  • So I had stumbled on a cabal of mystical navel-gazers.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • You can tell a hardcore, professional navel gazer from a novice because the novice will not come up with their own "problem" to spend 45 minutes "solving."

    Blog text (21)

  • At the art retreat, she was such a navel-gazer that she ignored all the beautiful landscapes around her.

Synonyms

brooder
vsnavel-gazer
1 7.2

A person who often thinks quietly about worries or sad thoughts

is absorbed in self without the anxious focus causing isolation
reflectionist
vsnavel-gazer
9.6

A person who often thinks deeply about their own thoughts and feelings

is more absorbed often ignoring the outside world
ruminator
vsnavel-gazer
8.9

A person who often thinks quietly and carefully about things

is more absorbed inwardly and may ignore external surroundings

How Self-Absorbed

narcissist
  • Offensive
43 7.2
navel-gazer
  • Offensive
1 9.6
egotist
  • Offensive
4 6.8

Surface Forms

navel-gazer singular
navel-gazers plural

Morphology

navel-gazer = navel + gazer (semi-transparent) = navel + gaze + er

A straightforward compound of 'navel' + 'gazer', but the figurative sense 'self-absorbed/introspective' is metaphorical and may not be fully obvious to all learners.

Etymology

The word navel-gazer comes from navel, meaning 'belly button', and gazer from gaze, meaning 'to stare'. Imagine someone staring at their own belly button so much they forget the world around them, which is why a navel-gazer is a person too absorbed in their own thoughts or feelings.