What does truant mean?
A truant is a pupil who is absent from school without permission. The adjective describes the pupil or the unauthorised absence, as in “truant student,” while the verb means to be absent from school in this way. The word is especially common in discussions of school attendance, discipline, and parents’ responsibility, although it is also used in less formal conversation. It generally implies deliberate avoidance rather than a temporary and properly authorised absence. In British English, “play truant” is a familiar expression, while “be truant” is understood in both British and American English. Although most often applied to school pupils, the word can occasionally extend more broadly to someone who persistently neglects a duty. Its history as a term for a wanderer gives it an additional sense of straying from the expected path.
A pupil who is absent from school without permission.
"The head teacher spoke with the parents of the truant."
Usually countable; the regular plural is “truants.”
Absent from school without permission, or relating to a pupil who is absent in that way.
"The truant pupil was asked to explain where she had been."
The word normally has a school context and implies unauthorised absence.
To be absent from school without permission.
"He was accused of truanting during the morning."
Common in informal British usage, especially in the phrase “play truant.”
The regular plural is used when referring to more than one pupil who is absent from school without permission.
"The school contacted the parents of several truants."
Before it meant skipping school, truant was a word for someone wandering or straying—a fitting ancestor for a pupil absent without permission.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does truant come from?
The word entered Middle English from Anglo-French or Old French, where it originally referred to a wanderer or someone who had strayed. It was later applied particularly to pupils absent from school without permission and developed into a verb meaning to be absent in that manner. The precise remote origin of the French form is uncertain, so it is best understood through its well-attested older sense of wandering or straying.
Related word forms
How truant is actually used
The word is especially associated with compulsory school attendance and is common in British and American English. It is often formal or institutional in tone, though the verb is used informally in everyday speech. As an adjective, it normally requires a school-related subject rather than referring simply to someone who is away.