Vicarious Meaning
/vɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjDelegated.
adjExperienced or gained by taking in another person’s experience rather than through first-hand experience, such as through watching or reading.
Sentence Examples
Tom began to show symptoms of vicarious trauma from his work with refugees.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She never wins herself, but she gets ____ pleasure from watching her son succeed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She enjoyed a ____ pleasure through her daughter's success, as she had always wanted to be a professional dancer today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyk-der. Latin vicis Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -ārius Latin vicāriusbor. Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ōtsos or *-otsos Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English vicarious From Latin vicārius (“vicarious, substituted”) + English -ous. First attested in the 17th century. Doublet of vicar.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The pleasures which I made haste to seek in my disguise were, as I have said, undignified; I would scarce use a harder term. But in the hands of Edward Hyde, they soon began to turn toward the monstrous. When I would come back from these excursions, I was often plunged into a kind of wonder at my vicarious depravity."
— 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 10, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde:
"These are people getting some sort of vicarious thrill from the street violence people like Tommy Robinson promote. Those that are attacking Jess Philips, who I'm proud to call colleague and a friend, are not protecting victims."
— 2025 January 6, Keir Starmer, 33:21 from the start, in Prime Minister's remarks on the NHS, South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre, Epsom:
"As time went on, the cruel custom was so far mitigated that a ram was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal victim."
— 1900, James Frazer, chapter 26, in The Golden Bough:
"In these, however, he had not much time to indulge, for a footman, still decked in the trappings of vicarious grief, opened the door with the most startling promptitude, and he was ushered upstairs into a small but richly furnished room."
— 1920, H. Rider Haggard, chapter III, in The Blue Curtains:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She never wins herself, but she gets ____ pleasure from watching her son succeed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She enjoyed a ____ pleasure through her daughter's success, as she had always wanted to be a professional dancer today.