What does bunked mean?
Bunked is the simple past tense and past participle of the verb 'to bunk', used informally on both sides of the Atlantic. Its dominant meaning is to have deliberately stayed away from an obligation — school, work, a lecture, a rehearsal — without permission or good reason. A pupil who 'bunked off' for the afternoon was absent by choice rather than necessity, giving the word a mildly mischievous, disapproving flavour that sits firmly in casual speech rather than formal writing. A secondary sense refers to sleeping, especially in a bunk: soldiers, sailors, and campers who 'bunked down' settled into shared or makeshift sleeping quarters. The noun behind both senses, 'a bunk', names either a fixed bed or, in another idiom, empty nonsense (as in 'that's a load of bunk'). For learners, 'bunked' is worth knowing because it appears constantly in informal narrative — school reminiscences, memoirs, fiction — where its synonyms carry slightly different regional weights: 'skipped' dominates American usage, while 'bunked off' and 'mitched' are distinctly British and Irish.
verbBunked is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'bunk', most commonly meaning to absent oneself from a duty such as school, work, or a meeting without permission; it can also mean having slept in a bunk.
- To have deliberately missed or avoided an obligation such as school, work, or a meeting without permission.
- To have slept in a bunk or shared sleeping quarters.
"He bunked off school to watch the match instead of sitting through double maths."
"She bunked her afternoon lectures to finish the novel in one sitting."
"The sailors bunked together in cramped quarters below deck."
In British slang, a whole day spent 'bunked off' has its own name — you were playing truant, and schools kept registers just to catch it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bunked
The verb 'bunk' derives from the noun 'bunk', a short bed fixed to a wall or stacked in tiers, which entered English in the mid-eighteenth century, probably from a Scandinavian source related to Swedish 'bunke' (a heap or bedding place), though its deeper origins are obscure. From the image of retreating to one's bunk came the extended sense of settling down to sleep, and later — by early twentieth-century slang, likely influenced by 'bunkum', meaning empty talk or nonsense — the idea of shirking or absenting oneself without leave. The truancy sense is especially well established in British and Australian informal English, where 'bunking off' remains a common way to describe skipping school.
Related word forms
How bunked is actually used
Informal register throughout. In British English, 'bunked off' or 'bunked' strongly connotes truancy from school, while American English prefers 'skipped' or 'played hooky'. The sleeping sense is neutral but chiefly found in military, nautical, or camp contexts.
Easily confused with bunked
'Bucked' means kicked with the hind legs or opposed something, whereas 'bunked' means absented oneself without permission or slept in a bunk.