Definition

1. Noun:

   • A student who stays away from school without permission or a valid reason: A person, typically a child or young person, who is absent from school without official authorization.
   • A person who shirks or neglects a duty or responsibility: Someone who avoids work or an obligation they are supposed to fulfill.

2. Adjective:

   • Characterized by absence without leave, especially from school: Describing a person who is absent without permission or an act of such absence.
   • Idle or neglectful of duty: Describing someone who avoids work or responsibility.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The teacher called the parents of the chronic truant. (The teacher contacted the parents of the student who was repeatedly absent without permission.)
  • He was labeled a truant for skipping his shift at work. (He was called someone who shirks duty for missing his scheduled work time.)

• Adjective:

  • Truant students often fall behind in their studies. (Students who are absent without permission frequently fail to keep up academically.)
  • The manager dismissed the truant worker. (The manager fired the employee who was neglectful of his duties.)

Advanced Usage

• "To play truant": This is the most common phrasal verb. It means to stay away from school without permission.
  • The children decided to play truant and go to the park instead. (The children chose to skip school without permission and visit the park.)

Variants and Related Words

• Truancy (n): The action or condition of being absent without permission, especially from school.
  • The school has strict policies to reduce truancy. (The school has firm rules to decrease unauthorized absences.)

Synonyms

• Noun: Absentee, shirker, slacker, malingerer.
• Adjective: Absent, AWOL, neglectful, idle.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Play truant: To skip school or avoid duty without authorization.
  • He was caught playing truant from school. (He was discovered skipping school without permission.)

Adjective

1. absent without permission
   • truant schoolboys
   • the soldier was AWOL for almost a week

Noun

1. someone who shirks duty
2. one who is absent from school without permission