Meaning & use
hooky
Last updated
UK/ˈhʊki/
US/ˈhʊki/
Meaning
noununcountableinformalAmerican
Time spent away from school or work without permission, used almost only in the phrase play hooky.
Grammar: Only appears in fixed phrases: play hooky.
Patterns
- play hooky
- play hooky from something
Let's play hooky and go to the beach today.
He played hooky from school to see the ball game.
Half the office seemed to be playing hooky on that sunny Friday.
Common combinations
- play hooky
- The kids played hooky and went fishing.
- play hooky from school
- She never once played hooky from school.
- play hooky from work
- He played hooky from work to watch the parade.
- catch someone playing hooky
- The principal caught them playing hooky at the arcade.
Synonyms and how they differ
- truancy
- Truancy is the formal word for a student's unexcused absence, with no playful tone.
- skiving
- Skiving is the British informal equivalent, used for avoiding school or work.
- cutting class
- Cutting class is specific to missing a lesson, while hooky can mean a whole day off.
- bunking off
- Bunking off is another British slang phrase, equal in tone to playing hooky.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hooky or hookey vs hockey?
hooky vs hookey vs hockey
Hockey is a sport played with sticks; hooky means skipping school or work.
Practice
On a warm spring morning, Lena decided to play ___ and go to the park.
Choose one answer.
To play hooky means to skip school or work. Play hockey would mean take part in the sport, which leaves out the idea of skipping.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hooky”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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