proxy

American  

[prok-see] / ˈprɒk si /

noun

• proxies
  plural

1. the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.

2. a person authorized to act as a deputy or substitute for another; agent.

3. a written authorization empowering another person to vote or act for the signer, such as at a meeting of stockholders.

4. an ally or confederate who can be relied upon to speak or act in one's behalf.

5. Computer.

   1. a server or program that receives requests, filters them, and forwards them to a network on behalf of another computer or network which it represents under a surrogate IP address: used to provide anonymity or increased security or to carry out intermediate processing.

   2. a placeholder programming object whose function is to delegate the execution of an action to one or more other objects it controls access to, allowing the placeholder to carry out other processing before and after that action.

---

adjective

1. relating to or having the agency, function, or power of a person authorized to act as the deputy or substitute for another.

   If you are unable to reach the polls, you can choose a proxy voter to cast your ballot for you.

   Because of the distance to be traveled, a proxy groom stood in for the queen's future husband.

2. (especially of a conflict) occurring between states, people, etc., who are directed, influenced, or funded by other states, people, etc..

   Proxy wars were a major feature of the Cold War.

   The new CEO won control of the company after a proxy battle.

proxy British  

/ ˈprɒksɪ /

noun

1. a person authorized to act on behalf of someone else; agent

   to vote by proxy

2. the authority, esp in the form of a document, given to a person to act on behalf of someone else

3. computing short for proxy server

---

proxy Cultural  

1. A person authorized to act for another, or the written authorization to act for another.

---

Discover More

Shareholders in corporations may designate proxies to represent them at stockholders' meetings and vote their shares.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• proxies
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of proxy

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English prokesye, procusie, contraction of procuracy “procuration”; see procure, -acy

---

Explanation

Don't feel like going to the grocery store today? See if you can send your brother as a proxy, meaning he's a substitute authorized to act for you. Now, don't get crazy about getting your brother to do everything for you. Running your errands is one thing, but if you're a historian and your brother is an accountant, he is not a good proxy for you when you don't feel like researching your book about Napoleon. And you wouldn't be a good proxy for him in his work. A proxy must be well-chosen to truly act on another person's behalf.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

proxy proxies

Platinum’s value derives primarily from industrial uses and therefore is a proxy for economic activity, while gold proxies not only for that activity but also for geopolitical uncertainty.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

An as-yet unrevealed game-changing power would be bestowed upon one player, but only after they had to blow up the proxy pumpkin scarecrow heads of all but three of the most trustworthy contestants.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

They reckon that Montage won’t be hurt by the memory cycle and it is a proxy for server CPU demand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

The latter’s proxy was city controller Kenneth Mejia, another person loathed by L.A.’s political know-it-alls because he keeps bucking it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

Finally, when the match ends, Zero stands up with his proxy and steps away from the glass cylinder without a word.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Platinum’s value derives primarily from industrial uses and therefore is a proxy for economic activity, while gold proxies not only for that activity but also for geopolitical uncertainty.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

He said MI5's successes in identifying and expelling Russian spies from the UK had left the Kremlin dependent on paying proxies for attempted attacks.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

He insisted his officers were keeping an "open mind" and considering "every possible angle" in the security scare, including the possible role of "proxies" working knowingly or unknowingly for a foreign state.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky has suggested schools should use proxies for race in the admissions process as well as in faculty hiring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Lawyers for each side met with inspectors of elections, whose job it was to approve or eliminate questionable proxies.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• intermediary
• stand-in
• surrogate

---