What does "truant" mean?
Truant: One who stays away from business or any duty; especially, one who stays out of school without leave; an idler; a loiterer; a shirk. Dryden. I have a truant been to chivalry. Shak. To play truant, to stray away; to loiter; especially, to stay out of school without leave. Sir T. Browne
Additional senses
- 2.Wandering from business or duty; loitering; idle, and shirking duty; as, a truant boy. While truant Jove, in infant pride, Played barefoot on Olympus' side. Trumbull.
- 3.To idle away time; to loiter, or wander; to play the truant. Shak. By this means they lost their time and truanted on the fundamental grounds of saving knowledge. Lowell.
- 4.To idle away; to waste. [R.] I dare not be the author Of truanting the time. Ford.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00