truant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun one who is absent from school without permission
    hooky player.
  2. noun someone who shirks duty
    nonattender; no-show.
  3. adjective satellite absent without permission
    awol.
    • truant schoolboys
    • the soldier was AWOL for almost a week

WordNet

Tru"ant noun
Etymology
F. truand, OF. truant, a vagrant, beggar; of Celtic origin; cf. W. tru, truan, wretched, miserable, truan a wretch, Ir. trogha miserable, Gael. truaghan a poor, distressed, or wretched creature, truagh wretched.
Definitions
  1. One who stays away from business or any duty; especially, one who stays out of school without leave; an idler; a loiterer; a shirk. Dryden.
    I have a truant been to chivalry. Shak.
    Sir T. Browne
Tru"ant adjective
Definitions
  1. Wandering from business or duty; loitering; idle, and shirking duty; as, a truant boy.
    While truant Jove, in infant pride, Played barefoot on Olympus' side. Trumbull.
Tru"ant intransitive verb
Etymology
Cf. F. truander.
Definitions
  1. To idle away time; to loiter, or wander; to play the truant. Shak.
    By this means they lost their time and truanted on the fundamental grounds of saving knowledge. Lowell.
Tru"ant transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To idle away; to waste. R.
    I dare not be the author Of truanting the time. Ford.

Webster 1913