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View synonyms for vicarious

vicarious

[ vahy-kair-ee-uhs, vi- ]

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.


vicarious

/ 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
“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


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Derived Forms

  • viˈcariously, adverb
  • viˈcariousness, noun
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Other Words From

  • vi·car·i·ous·ly adverb
  • vi·car·i·ous·ness vi·car·i·ism noun
  • non·vi·car·i·ous adjective
  • non·vi·car·i·ous·ness noun
  • un·vi·car·i·ous adjective
  • un·vi·car·i·ous·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of vicarious1

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

Origin of vicarious1

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

This is evidence of “vicarious traumatization,” Sood says, which can occur when a child hears about a tragedy or sees images of it—even if they don’t experience it firsthand.

From Time

One of the perks of the job, Goucher told me, was getting a vicarious thrill of being close to the action of elite-level competition.

Acknowledging vicarious trauma and weathering in refugees and migrants from instability itself is important.

From Time

I collected bits of them, but my blitz was safely vicarious.

But the old city, site of the bull run, has the inevitable trappings of a theme park for aficionados of the vicarious kind.

David, I want to shake you and say, do not use our lives as vicarious proof for your consumer conservatism.

He reads biographies, he dreams of great men—a vicarious pleasure, presumably.

But the appeal of Harlequins is more than just vicarious sex.

You may think I'm offering myself as a sort of vicarious atonement—if your Doris fails you—but I'm not, really.

This always occasioned a double execution, for the wrath or revenge of Louis was never satisfied with a vicarious punishment.

Here are three measures of subjugation, all flowing from the same fountain of Principle—vicarious government by a feudal superior.

To-day he was in the state of mind when even vicarious good 202 deeds are a support and a consolation.

The scandalmonger, inhibited from doing the forbidden thing, enjoys himself by a vicarious indulgence in rottenness.

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vicariate apostolicvicariously