🇬🇧 Vicarious meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

Vicarious describes the feeling of enjoying or experiencing something by watching, hearing, or imagining it rather than doing it yourself. For example, if you feel excited watching someone else ride a roller coaster, you're having a vicarious experience.

Dad had a vicarious workout watching a weightlifting competition… while eating chips on the couch.

I got vicarious stress watching my friend try to parallel park.

Watching a cooking show gives me vicarious confidence, even though I once burned cereal.

Uncle Bob gets vicarious excitement watching football—his shouting is louder than the TV.

Mom felt vicarious pride when her son won the spelling bee, even though she couldn't spell "hippopotamus."

On the park bench, Tom took vicarious joy watching his sister climb the tall tree. He felt vicarious fear when her foot slipped, vicarious relief when she laughed, vicarious pride when she waved from the branch. His vicarious heart raced as if he had climbed too. He smiled, satisfied by his safe vicarious adventure.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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