What does "truant" mean?
An idle or lazy person; an idler.
Truant
/ˈtɹuːənt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An idle or lazy person; an idler.
- Grammar: truant is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: absent, absent, absent oneself, absent without leave.
- Useful contrasts: attend, attend school, attendee.
- Usage evidence: Quite a few students played truant from school.
How to use "truant"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "truant" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "truant" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "truant" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "truant" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "truant" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "absent" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "truant", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An idle or lazy person; an idler.
"For my part I may ſpeake it to my ſhame, / I haue a truant beene to Chiualrie, […]"
- 2 someone who shirks duty wordnet
- 3 A student who is absent from school without permission; hence (figurative), a person who shirks or wanders from business or duty. specifically
"[S]ince I pluckt Geeſe, plaide Trevvant, and vvhipt Top, I knevv not vvhat 'tvvas to be beaten, till lately."
- 4 one who is absent from school without permission wordnet
- 5 Synonym of sturdy beggar (“a person who was fit and able to work, but lived as a beggar or vagrant instead”); hence, a worthless person; a rogue, a scoundrel. obsolete
"Hang him truant, theres no true drop of bloud in him to be truly toucht vvith loue, if he be ſadde, he vvantes money."
Verb
- 1 Also used with the impersonal pronoun it (dated): to shirk or wander from business or duty; (specifically) of a student: to be absent from school without permission; to play truant. intransitive
"The number of schoolchildren known to have truanted from this school has been unusually high."
- 2 To idle away or waste (time). obsolete, transitive
"I dare not be the Author / Of trevvanting the time then, neither vvill I."
Adjective
- 1 Shirking or wandering from business or duty; straying; hence, idle; loitering. not-comparable
"Ham[let]. And vvhat in faith make you from VVittenberg? / Hora[tio]. A truant diſpoſition good my Lord."
- 2 Of a student: absent from school without permission. not-comparable, specifically
"He didn’t graduate because he was chronically truant and didn’t have enough attendances to meet the requirement."
- 3 Having no real substance; unimportant, vain, worthless. not-comparable, obsolete
Adjective
- 1 absent without permission wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Quite a few students played truant from school."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "truant"?
Common synonyms include: absent, absent, absent oneself, absent without leave, absentee, absentee.
How do you use "truant" in a sentence?
Quite a few students played truant from school.
How do you pronounce "truant"?
Pronounced /ˈtɹuːənt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The adjective and noun are derived from Middle English truant, truand, truaund (“(adjective) idle; tending to vagrancy (uncertain; may be a use of the noun); (noun) beggar; mendicant friar; vagrant, wanderer; worthless person, rogue, scoundrel; one who is absent without leave, truant; one who shirks duties”), from Old French truant, truand (“(adjective) beggarly; roguish; (noun) a beggar, vagabond; a rogue”) (modern French truand), probably of Celtic origin, possibly from Gaulish *trugan, or from Breton truan (“wretched”), from Proto-Celtic *térh₁-tro-m, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn”). Cognates * Breton truc (“beggar”) * Irish trogán, trogha (“destitute”) * Middle Dutch trawant, trouwant, truwant * Occitan truan * Portuguese truão * Scottish Gaelic trudanach (“vagabond”), truaghan (“wretched”) * Spanish truhan * Welsh tru, truan (“wretched”)
Etymology 2
Inherited from Middle English truaunten (“to obtain alms fraudulently; to behave like a rogue or scoundrel; to neglect a duty; to be idle or lazy”), and then partly: * from Old French truander (modern French truander (“to cheat, to con”)), from truand (noun) (see etymology 1) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs); and * from Middle English truaunt (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs).