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vicarious

vaɪˈkɛriəsadjective

What does vicarious mean?

Felt through someone else’s experience rather than your own.

Vicarious, six ways

PlainFelt through someone else’s experience rather than your own.
ADHDSecondhand feeling. Their trip, your thrill.
Gen ZLiving through someone else’s stories. Their vacation photos, your joy.
MetaphorWarmth from a fire in someone else’s house.
FormalExperienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.
Like I’m 5Feeling happy or excited because of something that happened to someone else. That’s vicarious.

How to pronounce vicarious

vye-KAIR-ee-us/vaɪˈkɛriəs/

Vicarious in a sentence

I get a vicarious thrill from her travel stories.
I live vicariously through her dating stories.
Vicarious trauma affects many first responders.

Synonyms for vicarious

secondhandPlainer.
indirectNot firsthand.

Where vicarious comes from

Latin. Vicarius, a substitute, from vicis, a turn. The same root as vicar.

Good to know

The adverb is common: to live vicariously through someone. In law, vicarious liability means answering for someone else’s acts.

Vicarious meaning, on a Gloss card: Felt through someone else’s experience rather than your own.

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Words like vicarious

sublime · languid · lethargic · voracious · vestige · equanimity · All 110 words

In: Words for feelings · SAT words