as in center
a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest
during the Vietnam War the university's campus effectively became the area's omphalos for antiwar activity
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of omphalos
While the temples have crumbled, seeing the omphalos gave me goose bumps, and left me awe-struck over Delphi’s sublime place in history.
—
Liz Alderman, New York Times, 9 July 2019
Zeus marked the spot with a stone called the omphalos (navel), to signify the location’s centrality.
—National Geographic, 12 Mar. 2019
Liz Alderman, New York Times, 9 July 2019
Zeus marked the spot with a stone called the omphalos (navel), to signify the location’s centrality.
—National Geographic, 12 Mar. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for omphalos
Noun
-
When the cremation center staff asked what happened, the partner admitted Aria had been killed by a larger dog.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
-
The concerns center on the potential enforcement of the state-wide ban on camping in public spaces ushered in by the Safer Kentucky Act, our Killian Baarlaer reports.—
Ray Padilla,
Louisville Courier Journal,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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To prove their point, the researchers analyzed 46 years’ worth of venture-capital startup investments, among other data points.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
24 Oct. 2025
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The project, called the MARS-V Project, is under development by MARS-V, a non-governmental organization based in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar.—
Rosanna Philpott,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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After all, the Moroccan city is one of the world's great shopping meccas.—
Elizabeth Cantrell,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Oct. 2025
-
New York City remains the cocktail mecca of the Americas, with four Big Apple bars making this year’s list, including the East Village’s Superbueno (rising 15 places to 12), the West Village’s Sip & Guzzle (39), the Lower East Side’s Double Chicken Please (41), and FiDi’s Overstory (46).—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!—
Jim Higgins,
jsonline.com,
27 Oct. 2025
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Multinational players such as PwC, Deloitte, Lenovo, and Siemens Energy have already relocated leadership operations from Dubai and other hubs to Riyadh.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Harris, 33, has a contract that makes sense to try and part ways with, especially with the younger nucleus in Detroit.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
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This is the uniform in which DesRochers greets me at the nucleus of her sprawling entrepreneurial pursuits that are dubbed The Gratitude Collective, her brick home sitting high atop a hill in Avondale.—
Grace Tucker,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Also look for screwworm larvae (maggots) and eggs in or around body openings, such as the nose, ears, and genitalia, or the navel of newborn animals.—
Beth Mole,
ArsTechnica,
24 Sep. 2025
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Stay here for several breaths, sending the tailbone high, gazing toward the navel, and pressing your heels gently toward the mat.—
Julia Eskins,
Outside,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Their grids of teenage faces are laid out like tract housing—a locus of conformity—and even at the outset, there was hell to pay for going your own way.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
His master had called it a locus for the dark side of the Force.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Omphalos.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/omphalos. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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