vicarious
adjective
vi·car·i·ous
| \ vī-ˈker-ē-əs
, vÉ™-\
, vÉ™-\
Definition of vicarious
1
: experienced or realized through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another
a vicarious thrill
2a
: serving instead of someone or something else
b
: that has been delegated
vicarious authority
3
: performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another : substitutionary
a vicarious sacrifice
4
: occurring in an unexpected or abnormal part of the body instead of the usual one
vicarious menstruation manifested by bleeding from the nose
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Examples of vicarious in a Sentence
I am a vicarious eater, often preferring a description of a meal to eating it. I hoard the Wednesday food section of the New York Times, savoring it as my late-night reading, finishing always with the restaurant review.
— Anne-Marie Slaughter, Commonweal, 14 June 2002
Most people caged in the humdrum routines of modern life are eager for vicarious glimpses of pain, joy, and especially vitality.
— Robert Jackall et al., Image Makers, 2000
There is an immense sub-middle class with enough money to preserve it from rancorous envy of the rich, but not enough to preserve it from boredom; it needs vicarious compensations and manages to find them in the gossip columns.
— Aldous Huxley, The Olive Tree, 1937
To give himself the vicarious illusion of companionship, he fell back on letters.
— Amy Lowell, John Keats, 1925
By means of ferocious jokes … he could vent his hatred of pioneer life and all its conditions, those conditions that were thwarting his creative life; he could, in this vicarious manner, appease the artist in him …
— Van Wyck Brooks, The Ordeal of Mark Twain, 1920
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Recent Examples on the Web
Getting lost in a romance novel gave her the vicarious thrill of falling in love without having to talk to or touch anyone. — Lisa Bonos, Dallas News, "Romance novelist Helen Hoang writes about love on the autism spectrum," 23 July 2019 Who knows better how to capture that perfect light and turn it into vicarious entertainment than those who live fabulously as a profession? — Sabrina Rojas Weiss, refinery29.com, "Use These Celeb Vacation Instagram Captions On Your Next Getaway," 5 July 2019 Like soap operas for adults, Bandstand became a vicarious thrill for a whole viable subculture of teen-agers who were in search of their own identity. — Scott Harrison, latimes.com, "From the Archives: The 20th anniversary of ‘American Bandstand’," 18 June 2019 Hopefully the rest of this Jonas Brothers promotional tour will bring more group date moments, because the vicarious fun is just too good. — Abby Gardner, Glamour, "Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner, and Danielle Jonas Had a Triple Date Night," 6 Apr. 2019 Summer is a time for adventures both real and vicarious. — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, "Children’s Books: An Endless Season for All Ages," 24 May 2019 Dorothy’s only vague pleasures are the vicarious thrills of her libertine friend Estelle and Estelle’s soap opera love affairs. — Vox Staff, Vox, "The most thought-provoking books the Vox staff read in 2018," 21 Dec. 2018 In a series of posts, the pair gave us a vicarious tour through the iconic city. — Emily Wang, Glamour, "Serena Williams Was in the Mood For Italian, So Her Husband Flew Her To Italy," 23 July 2018 Here, then, are a few thoughts on finessing this vexing problem: Go vicarious. — Joe Queenan, WSJ, "It’s Time to Kick the Bucket List," 20 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vicarious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for vicarious
vicarious
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of vicarious
: experienced or felt by watching, hearing about, or reading about someone else rather than by doing something yourself
See the full definition for vicarious in the English Language Learners Dictionary
vicarious
adjective
vi·car·i·ous
| \ vī-ˈker-ē-əs
\
\
Kids Definition of vicarious
: sharing in someone else's experiences through the use of imagination or sympathetic feelings
She got vicarious enjoyment from her sister's travels.
vicarious
adjective
vi·car·i·ous
| \ vī-ˈker-ē-əs, və-, -ˈkar-
\
\
Medical Definition of vicarious
: occurring in an unexpected or abnormal part of the body instead of the usual one
bleeding from the gums sometimes occurs in the absence of the normal discharge from the uterus in vicarious menstruation
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vicarious
adjective
vi·car·i·ous
| \ vī-ˈkar-ē-əs
\
\
Legal Definition of vicarious
: imposed on one person in place of another — see also vicarious liability at liability sense 2b