play hooky
(idiomatic, US) To play truant; to avoid (informally: skip) school, work, or other duties (stay away from these without permission nor an excuse); to skive or to bunk off (UK).
Seen in the wild
"Course not, Matty." She giggled again. "But that aside, you've given us a great excuse." "For what?" "To take the rest of the day off, silly! So? What do you say? Wanna play hooky with me?"
Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt2) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber
Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt3) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber
Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt1) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber
Definitions
(idiomatic, US) To play truant; to avoid (informally: skip) school, work, or other duties (stay away from these without permission nor an excuse); to skive or to bunk off (UK).
“"Course not, Matty." She giggled again. "But that aside, you've given us a great excuse." "For what?" "To take the rest of the day off, silly! So? What do you say? Wanna play hooky with me?"”
“Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt2) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber”
“Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt3) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber”
Plenty of people played hooky from work to go see the movie on opening day.
“"Course not, Matty." She giggled again. "But that aside, you've given us a great excuse." "For what?" "To take the rest of the day off, silly! So? What do you say? Wanna play hooky with me?"”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt2) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt3) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Let's play hooky and go dancing on the beach instead (Pt1) #lewdtuber #vtuber #spicyvtuber”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "play hooky".
🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "play hooky" (P)
Browse all slang words starting with P.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- skive off74%
(UK, Irish, informal) To skive; to play truant; to slack off.
- bunk off72%
(British, slang) To play truant.
- play the wag72%
Play the wag is a dated British phrase meaning to play truant — to deliberately skip school without permission. It belongs to the same semantic family as 'wag off,' 'skive,' 'bunk off,' and 'play hooky.' Largely obsolete but survives in dialect usage and historical accounts of British childhood. The register is informal and slightly roguish; it carries the suggestion of a child sneaking off for a day of freedom rather than a more serious dereliction.
- pull a sickie70%
(slang, UK, Australia, New Zealand) To skip work or school or avoid an obligation by pretending to be sick.
- play the wag69%
(idiomatic, UK, slang, dated) To play truant .