hooky
/ˈhʊki/ noun, adjective
Forms hookier hookiest
- noun Absence from school or work; truancy. “Let's play hooky and go to the mall.”
- adjective 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.”
- adjective Shaped like or resembling a hook; hooked.
- adjective (UK, slang) Dodgy; crooked; illicit.
Synonyms
beaking bunking bobbing cutting class dipping ditching dogging going on the hop going on the lang going on the mitch jigging kidding mitching pawning pipping playing hooky poning sculling self-motivated field trip skipping truancy
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.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Full of hooks; pertaining to hooks.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hooky”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details