Dictionary

play hooky en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

See hooky for its origin; the construction of the phrase is in the same vein as play truant.

Meanings

1. (US, idiomatic) To play truant; to avoid (informally: skip) school, work, or other duties (stay away from these without permission nor an excuse); to skive or to bunk off (UK);
   • Next time you play hooky, you might want to take off your school uniform. 2007 September 28, John O'Bryan, “The Headband” (5:38 from the start), in Joaquim Dos Santos, director, Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 3 (Book Three: Fire), episode 2:
   • Plenty of people played hooky from work to go see the movie on opening day.

Forms

Relateds

wag · mitch · bug out · truant · play truant

Synonyms

play truant

Translations (40)

id membolos (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ro chiuli (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ko 땡땡이치다 (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pt matar aula (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · fr faire le mur (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pt cabular (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ca fer fugina (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · nl spijbelen (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · cmn 逃學 /逃学 (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · th โดด (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · sv skolka (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · tr kaçmak (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · da skulke (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · de schwänzen (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · he הִתְפַּרְפֵּר (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · de blaumachen (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ca fer campana (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · no skulke (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ru прогуля́ть (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · tr asmak (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pl wagarować (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · tr kaytarmak (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ro trage chiulul (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · tr kırmak (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pt gazear (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · da pjække (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · fr faire l'école buissonnière (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pt gazetear (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · cs chodit za školu (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · it bigiare (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · fa جیم زدن (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · is skrópa (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · el κάνω κοπάνα (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · pt cabular aula (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · it marinare la scuola (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · fi lintsata (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ru прогу́ливать (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · cmn 曠課 /旷课 (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · cmn 逃課 /逃课 (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse) · ca fer pila (Lleida) (to stay away from school, work, etc. without suitable permission or excuse)