1. One who is absent from school without permission
   "The principal caught several truants at the mall during school hours";
   - hooky player [N. Amer, informal], skiver [Brit]
    
2. Someone who shirks duty
   "The chronic truant rarely showed up for team meetings";
   - no-show, nonattender

1. Be absent from work or school without permission
   "The boy often plays truant";
   - bunk off [Brit, informal], play hooky [N. Amer, informal], play truant, bunk [Brit, informal], mitch [Ireland, informal], wag [Austral, NZ, informal]

1. Absent without permission
   "truant schoolboys";
   - awol [informal]

Derived forms: truanted, truants, truanting

See also: absent

Type of: absentee, cut, offender, skip, wrongdoer

Encyclopedia: Truant