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  1. omphaloskepsis love

Definitions

Wiktionary

  1. n. Contemplation of or meditation upon one's navel.
  2. n. figuratively ratiocination to the point of self-absorption

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. literally, the contemplation of one's navel, which is an idiom usually meaning complacent self-absorption

Etymologies

  1. From Ancient Greek ὀμφαλός (omphalos, "navel") + σκέψις (skepsis, "perception, reflection") (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “That was no way to earn three ounces of jasmine oil, let alone to earn three years of omphaloskepsis, which was what the doctor ordered (or did the doctor order the smothered burrito?).”

    Fictionaut: La insistencia de Jürgen Fauth

  • “Learned a new word you would like .. omphaloskepsis.”

    festival of ones and zeros

  • “If pressed, could you spell syzygy or capybara, phylactery or omphaloskepsis or acouchi?”

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph

  • “And once we get this baby up and running, expect to see me go back and forth between think-piece omphaloskepsis like the above and discussions of shows and artstuff I get to see here in the Los Angeles area and where'er else I travel.”

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

  • “Entries might be traditional accounts of the day's hiking, messages to stragglers behind heckling them to catch up, introspective omphaloskepsis, cryptic musings of no obvious relevance to anything on the trail, or even entirely different things.”

    Planet Mozilla

  • “These boring people who seem to spend their time telling us how to vote, omphaloskepsis, or calling the paparazzi over for crotch shots of their kids will be around for at least another six months.”

    ORACULATIONS

  • “That sentiment is arrogant B.S. promoted by those who spend too much time enagaged in technological omphaloskepsis.”

    Reverend Ted's Blog

  • “I guess that makes me inconsistent, which puzzles me on days like today where I fall victim to omphaloskepsis.”

    Planet Sun

  • “Presumably, one arrives at game theory through omphaloskepsis.] "...”

    Verbatim: VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol X No 1

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hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. self-absorption

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. bellybutton
  1. 2009 scripps national spelling bee
  1. tbp

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Lists

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Comments

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  • swimsuitissue As a child, I once stabbed myself in the bellybutton upon wondering if it could bleed. Indeed it can. Masochistic omphaloskepsis? Jun 18, 2009

  • satwordgeek My classmate suffers from acute omphaloskepsis. May 8, 2009

  • seanahan This word is great because it can act as an idiom, or indeed as a literal term. Who doesn't periodical ponder at the marvel that is one's belly button? Apr 23, 2009

  • anisette17 Make your own comments, geesh! I ALSO like this word because of the ancient association. The omphalos was a stone thought to be the 'navel' of the earth. But it brings such Discworld-type associations to my mind. Giant belly-buttons under the ground . . . Apr 22, 2009

  • frindley Omphaloskepsis (self-absorbed, navel-gazing). I'm not really a selfish person, but I do occasionally need someone to remind me to look up from my navel. Plus, things that have to do with belly-buttons are generally pretty fun.
    (Anise Brock, San Francisco, USA) Oct 15, 2008

  • tankexmortis I keep contemplating it, but nothing's happening. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? Jan 17, 2007

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‘omphaloskepsis’ has been looked up 3841 times, loved by 21 people, added to 100 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 27.