Meaning & use
live vicariously
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
To enjoy the experiences of another person by hearing about them or imagining them, rather than doing those things yourself.
Grammar: Usually followed by through: she lives vicariously through her daughter.
Patterns
- live vicariously through someone
- live vicariously through something
My grandfather lives vicariously through my travel photos because he can no longer fly.
She lived vicariously through her sister's stories of life in Tokyo.
Many fans live vicariously through the athletes they admire.
phrasefixed phrasedisapproving
To try to satisfy your own unfulfilled hopes by pushing a child or friend to do what you wanted to do.
Grammar: Often critical, used when a parent pressures a child: living vicariously through your kids.
Patterns
- live vicariously through your children
The coach was accused of living vicariously through his young players.
Some parents live vicariously through their children's school results.
Word forms
| third person singular | lives vicariously |
|---|---|
| past tense | lived vicariously |
| past participle | lived vicariously |
| -ing form | living vicariously |
Common combinations
- live vicariously through your children
- It is unfair to live vicariously through your children.
- living vicariously through a character
- Readers enjoy living vicariously through the heroes of adventure novels.
- live vicariously through travel blogs
- I live vicariously through travel blogs when I am stuck at my desk.
- let me live vicariously
- Tell me all about the wedding and let me live vicariously.
- want to live vicariously
- Some people want to live vicariously through famous people.
Synonyms and how they differ
- experience secondhand
- Experience secondhand is plainer and less emotional, while live vicariously emphasizes sharing the other person's feelings.
- identify with
- Identify with means feeling close to someone and seeing yourself in them, but it does not necessarily mean enjoying their experiences in place of your own.
- relive
- Relive means experiencing your own past again in memory, whereas live vicariously involves another person's life.
Word family
- vicarious adjective
- felt or experienced through another person
- vicariously adverb
- in a way that is shared through someone else
- vicariousness noun
- the quality of being experienced through someone else
Commonly confused: live vicariously or vicarious?
live vicariously vs vicarious
Vicarious is the adjective, as in a vicarious thrill, while vicariously is the adverb used in the phrase live vicariously.
Practice
My uncle can no longer climb mountains, so he ____ through my hiking videos.
Choose one answer.
Living vicariously means enjoying someone else's activities through hearing or seeing them. Virtually, alternately and separately do not form this idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “live vicariously”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.