What does truanting mean?
Truanting means being absent from school without permission, especially as a pupil. It focuses on the action rather than the person responsible: a pupil who does it may be described as a truant, while the conduct itself is truanting. The term is used in everyday, educational, legal, and news contexts and generally carries a mildly disapproving connotation because unauthorized absence can disrupt learning and breach school rules. Although people sometimes truant from individual lessons, rather than from school as a whole, the expression most commonly refers to absence during the school day or part of it. In British and American English, truanting is readily understood, while alternatives such as skipping school, skiving, and playing hooky may sound more informal. The word belongs to a family that includes the older noun and adjective truant and the closely related noun truancy, which refers to the practice or frequency of unauthorized absence. Together, these forms allow speakers to distinguish the behavior, the individual responsible for it, and the broader pattern or problem.
verbTo be absent from school without permission, especially as a pupil.
- To be absent from school without permission, especially as a pupil.
"The pupils were found truanting from school during the morning break."
"Repeated truanting resulted in a meeting with her parents."
"The report noted that several students had been truanting from lessons."
A truant is the person; truanting is the disappearing act.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does truanting come from?
Truanting was formed by adding the present-participle and gerund ending -ing to the older word truant. Truant is attested from the early 16th century, initially for a rogue or vagabold and later for a person who absents themself from school. The ultimate origin of the base word is uncertain, so proposed connections with Welsh or other languages cannot be stated as established fact. The related form truancy developed from the same root and became the standard noun for the unauthorized absence of school pupils.
How truanting is actually used
The term is neutral to mildly disapproving and is used in both British and American English. It is chiefly associated with school attendance, although similar uses can occur in discussions of other compulsory obligations.
Easily confused with truanting
A truant is a pupil who is absent from school without permission, whereas truanting is the activity of doing so.