vicarious

American  

[vahy-kair-ee-uhs, vi-] / vaɪˈkɛər i əs, vɪ- /

adjective

1. performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another.

   vicarious punishment.

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

3. felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others.

   a vicarious thrill.

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

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vicarious British  

/ vɪˈkɛərɪəs, vaɪ- /

adjective

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

2. suffered, undergone, or done as the substitute for another

   vicarious punishment

3. delegated

   vicarious authority

4. taking the place of another

5. pathol (of menstrual bleeding) occurring at an abnormal site See endometriosis

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Other Word Forms

• nonvicarious
  adjective
• nonvicariousness
  noun
• unvicarious
  adjective
• unvicariousness
  noun
• vicariism
  noun
• vicariously
  adverb
• vicariousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of vicarious

First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin vicārius “substituting,” equivalent to vic(is) (genitive) “interchange, alternation” ( see vice ³) + -ārius -ary; see -ous

Explanation

If something is vicarious, it delivers a feeling or experience from someone else. If your child becomes a big star, you might have a vicarious experience of celebrity. Vicarious comes from the Latin word vicarius, which means "substitute." If you have vicarious enjoyment, you have a second-hand thrill. You might get vicarious thrills of adventure by reading your friend's letters from overseas. If you're mad at your cat but you take it out on your dog, that's vicarious punishment. Vicarious can also be used as a medical term meaning "occurring in an unexpected part of the body."

Example Sentences

Vicarious trauma happens when you take in stories or media that touch on “fight or flight” reactions in your own body.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 5, 2023

The QA department at Blizzard Albany, the studio formerly known as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2’s Vicarious Visions, has become the second QA department within Activision Blizzard to organize a union.

From The Verge • Jul. 19, 2022

Mr. Bala founded Vicarious Visions, a development studio in Menands, N.Y., with his brother in the early 1990s, grew it into a 200-person company and sold it to Activision in 2005 for $5.3 million.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2018

The methods that Vicarious and Google used were different; they allowed the systems to learn on their own, albeit in a narrow field.

From Washington Post • Nov. 1, 2017

Vicarious work is not new, for it has been practiced in various forms from the first day.

From A Rational Theology As Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Widtsoe, John A.