proxy

American  

[prok-see] / ˈprɒk si /

noun

plural

proxies

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.

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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

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proxy Cultural  

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

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Discover More

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

Etymology

Origin of proxy

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

Example Sentences

It’s the latest incident in a global proxy battle targeting key underwater assets—triggering a global scramble to protect cables vulnerable to potential sabotage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Warner sought to justify the arrangement, saying in the proxy that Warner’s initial deal to sell the company to Netflix — which was Zaslav’s favored outcome — would have resulted in less tax liability.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

U.S. employees: 10-K reports and proxy statements, with the exception of Amazon and TJX.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

The price might be right, but if you buy a dirt-cheap gadget, it could come with residential proxy software—preinstalled malware that gives hackers access to your home network.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

“Flom’s early specialty was proxy fights, and that was not what we did, just like we don’t do matrimonial work,” said Robert Rifkind, a longtime partner at Cravath, Swaine and Moore.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• intermediary
• stand-in
• surrogate