hooky

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   informal, especially in play hooky: unauthorized absence from school or work

   Tom wanted an escape plan more complicated than simply playing hooky.

2. 2
   adj

   informal: curved like a hook or covered with hooks

   The hooky side of the fastener caught on the wool blanket.

The school-absence sense is American, first recorded in the nineteenth century; its origin is uncertain, though Dutch hoekje, 'corner or hiding place,' has been proposed. The adjective is independently formed from hook plus -y.

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