Hooky
adj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Absence from school or work; truancy. uncountable
"Let's play hooky and go to the mall."
- 2 failure to attend (especially school) wordnet
- 1 Full of hooks (in any sense).
"Sew the hooky half of the Velcro on the inner side so that it doesn't pick up fluff."
- 2 Shaped like or resembling a hook; hooked.
- 3 Dodgy; crooked; illicit. UK, slang
"Start a thing in the street and attract attention to bags full of hooky gear? No. She was smarter than that."
Example
More examples""Ah ... I'm just not feeling so well" "Really? Are you OK?" "Heh-heh. Actually I'm playing hooky.""
Etymology
First attested in 1848 in New York City. Most likely from Dutch hoekje (“nook, corner; 'spot to hide' in hide-and-seek”). Formerly, "hoekje spelen" could be used to mean "to play hide-and-seek", though the common term for the game nowadays is verstoppertje. By surface analysis, hook + -y.
From hook + -y.
Related phrases
More for "hooky"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.