vicarious

[ vahy-kair-ee-uh s, vi- ]

/ vaɪˈkɛər i əs, vɪ- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vicarious ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment.

taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute.

felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.

Physiology. noting or pertaining to a situation in which one organ performs part of the functions normally performed by another.

Nearby words

vicarial, vicariance, vicariant, vicariate, vicariate apostolic, vicarious, vicarious hypertrophy, vicarious menstruation, vicarly, vice, vice admiral

Origin of vicarious

1630–40; < Latin vicārius substituting, equivalent to vic(is) (genitive) interchange, alternation (see vice³), + -ārius -ary; see -ous

Related forms

vi·car·i·ous·ly, adverbvi·car·i·ous·ness, vi·car·i·ism, nounnon·vi·car·i·ous, adjectivenon·vi·car·i·ous·ly, adverb

non·vi·car·i·ous·ness, nounun·vi·car·i·ous, adjectiveun·vi·car·i·ous·ly, adverbun·vi·car·i·ous·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for vicarious

But the old city, site of the bull run, has the inevitable trappings of a theme park for aficionados of the vicarious kind.
Is This Hemingway’s Pamplona or a Lot of Bull?|Clive Irving|July 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
David, I want to shake you and say, do not use our lives as vicarious proof for your consumer conservatism.
David Brooks In The Supermarket Aisles Of Judaism|Gershom Gorenberg|March 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He reads biographies, he dreams of great men—a vicarious pleasure, presumably.
Bennett's Emergence—And Obama's?|Bernard Avishai|January 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But the appeal of Harlequins is more than just vicarious sex.
How ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Is Shaking Up the Business of the Romance Genre|Chris Berube|June 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST

You may feel dizzy from all the vicarious Scotch-drinking, too; the series is that visceral.
Mad Men's Finest Hour|Caryn James|August 13, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Of these, however, the first with whom I became intimate was one whose literary connections were vicarious rather than personal.
Memoirs of Life and Literature|W. H. Mallock
The scandalmonger, inhibited from doing the forbidden thing, enjoys himself by a vicarious indulgence in rottenness.
The Behavior of Crowds|Everett Dean Martin
It was a murmured compunction, a vicarious acknowledgment of sin.
Madonna Mary|Mrs. Oliphant
This consumption may be, and in fact very largely is, vicarious.
The Transformation of Early Christianity from an Eschatological to a Socialized Movement|Lyford Paterson Edwards
Even the remoter, lay dependents should render a vicarious leisure to the extent of one day in seven.
The Theory of the Leisure Class|Thorstein Veblen

British Dictionary definitions for vicarious

vicarious

/ (vɪˈkɛərɪəs, vaɪ-) /

adjective

obtained or undergone at second hand through sympathetic participation in another's experiences

suffered, undergone, or done as the substitute for anothervicarious punishment

delegatedvicarious authority

taking the place of another

pathol (of menstrual bleeding) occurring at an abnormal siteSee endometriosis

Derived Forms

vicariously, adverbvicariousness, noun

Word Origin for vicarious

C17: from Latin vicārius substituted, from vicis interchange; see vice ³, vicissitude

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for vicarious

vicarious

[ vī-kâr′ē-əs, vĭ- ]

adj.

Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another.

Occurring in or performed by a part of the body not normally associated with a certain function.

vicarious

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of vicarious

Related forms

Examples from the Web for vicarious

British Dictionary definitions for vicarious

vicarious

adjective

Derived Forms

Word Origin for vicarious

Medicine definitions for vicarious

vicarious

adj.