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

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

He’s glad the numbers for this are getting better: 19% of people surveyed have a healthcare proxy, up from 15% last year.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

More than 80% of those with a will, trust, healthcare proxy or financial power of attorney said they’d know what to do if a family member died.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 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

Every year millions of dodgy apps and cheapo internet-connected devices ship with an unadvertised back door called residential proxy software.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

In Skadden, the legal historian Lincoln Caplan describes that early world of takeovers: The winner of a proxy contest was determined in the snake pit.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• intermediary
• stand-in
• surrogate