truant

/ˈtruənt/

/ˈtruɪnt/

Other forms: truants; truantly

A truant is a student who is out of school without permission. If you skip school to go shopping with your friends, you are a truant.

A person can be a truant, and behavior can be described as truant too, since it's both a noun and an adjective. Your teacher might call you a truant if you skip school and if you didn't show up at your donut shop job, you would also be a truant donut slinger. In fact, anyone who's unexpectedly absent can be described as truant. The Old French truant describes a beggar, especially one who lives this way by choice.

Definitions of truant

1. noun

   one who is absent from school without permission
   synonyms: hooky player

   type of:

   absentee

   one that is absent or not in residence
2. noun

   someone who shirks duty
   synonyms: no-show, nonattender

   type of:

   offender, wrongdoer

   a person who transgresses moral or civil law
3. adjective

   absent without permission
   “truant schoolboys”

   synonyms: AWOL, awol

   absent

   not being in a specified place