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.

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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.

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

That is why paleoclimatologists turn to proxy data -- such as corals.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Is the collective pronoun meant to be a proxy for her private and public selves?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Neither is a good proxy for the interests of the people as a whole.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

This is the best proxy for AI-related prices.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

I enlisted Verna, my law school friend, to go by when she could, as a sort of proxy for me.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

But it also can employ dubious proxies like keyboard strokes and how often your computer screen goes into sleep mode.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

So we reach for proxies: hours of sleep, number of words said, percentile growth chart.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Independent power producers rerated like technology stocks, and utilities that spent decades as bond proxies suddenly had growth stories.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

The corsairs, sometimes defining themselves as a naval mujahideen, also acted as mercenaries or proxies.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

And I wanted to hear the voices one truly never hears, the voices of guards— those on the front lines of our prison policies, society’s proxies.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• intermediary
• stand-in
• surrogate