the.com/viceregent
The power behind the throne, minus the throne, minus the blame.
means A person who exercises authority or rules as the deputy or substitute for a sovereign or higher power.
from Built from 'vice-' (Latin 'vice', meaning 'in place of') plus 'regent' (from Latin 'regere', 'to rule'). The same 'vice-' that gives us vice-president and viceroy marks a stand-in for the real authority — so a viceregent governs with borrowed weight, holding the office without owning the crown.
- literal meaning
- one who rules in place of another
- job security
- depends entirely on the actual regent
- historical use
- colonial governors loved this title a lot
- catch
- all authority, zero final say