TRUANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does truant mean? 

• TRUANT (noun)
  The noun TRUANT has 2 senses:

1. one who is absent from school without permission

2. someone who shirks duty

  Familiarity information: TRUANT used as a noun is rare.

• TRUANT (adjective)
  The adjective TRUANT has 1 sense:

1. absent without permission

  Familiarity information: TRUANT used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRUANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One who is absent from school without permission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

hooky player; truant

Hypernyms ("truant" is a kind of...):

absentee (one that is absent or not in residence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who shirks duty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

no-show; nonattender; truant

Hypernyms ("truant" is a kind of...):

offender; wrongdoer (a person who transgresses moral or civil law)

• TRUANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Absent without permission

Synonyms:

awol; truant

Context example:

the soldier was AWOL for almost a week

Similar:

absent (not being in a specified place)

Derivation:

truancy (failure to attend (especially school))

 Context examples 

Truant! truant! he added, when he had paused an instant.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He was tired of books, and found people so interesting now that Mr. Brooke was obliged to make very unsatisfactory reports, for Laurie was always playing truant and running over to the Marches'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)