If something is vicarious, it delivers a feeling or experience from someone else. If your child becomes a big star, you might have a vicarious experience of celebrity.
Vicarious comes from the Latin work vicarius, which means substitute. If you have vicarious enjoyment, you have a second hand thrill. You might get vicarious thrills of adventure by reading your friend's letters from overseas. If you're mad at your wife but you take it out on your dog, that's vicarious punishment. Vicarious can also be used as a medical term meaning "occurring in an unexpected part of body."
