Other Word Forms
- nontruancy noun
Etymology
Origin of truancy
Explanation
If you pretend you're sick to stay home from school and then sneak out to a baseball game, that's truancy, meaning it’s an unauthorized absence. In Middle English, truant — the root of truancy — referred to a vagabond or an idler. That meaning still holds true: if you’re accused of truancy, some may say you’re a vagabond or an idler — meaning you’re shirking your duties. Truancy can refer to any absence without permission, but it often refers to being absent from school. If you stay home from school without good reason, you might be hauled into the principal’s office to explain your truancy.
Vocabulary lists containing truancy
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Hoot
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
More than 50 members of staff at Tewkesbury Academy in Gloucestershire first walked out on Wednesday as one teacher said truancy was "rife" at the school.
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
Dr Summers says Luton has been trying to move away from seeing school absences as "defiance and truancy".
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2025
It also forbade suspensions and expulsions for truancy and tardiness.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2025
I fought truancy in California for more than a decade.
From Salon • Sep. 9, 2024
That put an end to my truancy, but nothing appeared to lighten the long gloomy day that going to school became.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
