Meaning & use
vicariously
Last updated
UK/vɪˈkeəriəsli/
US/vaɪˈkeriəsli/
Meaning
adverb
Experiencing something through another person's actions or feelings rather than doing it yourself.
Grammar: Often used with 'live': live vicariously through someone.
Patterns
- live vicariously through someone
- experience something vicariously
- enjoy something vicariously
She couldn't travel, so she lived vicariously through her friends' holiday photos.
He enjoyed the victory vicariously, as if he had been on the team himself.
Many parents experience their children's successes vicariously.
Common combinations
- live vicariously through someone
- After his injury, he lived vicariously through his teammates.
- experience something vicariously
- Readers experience the adventure vicariously through the main character.
- enjoy something vicariously
- I enjoy the excitement of the race vicariously by watching it on TV.
- feel something vicariously
- She felt the joy of her sister's wedding vicariously.
Synonyms and how they differ
- indirectly
- This means not directly, but it doesn't carry the idea of sharing someone else's experience.
Opposites
Word family
- vicarious adjective
- Experienced through someone else rather than firsthand.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'vicariously' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Vicariously' means through someone else, so 'through her daughter's travels' fits. The other options use it with incorrect prepositions or contradictory meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vicariously”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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