TRUANT Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

truant 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of truant

as in absent

not present at a mandatory time and place Her son was suspended after being truant from school a number of times.

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Dissimilar Words

truant

2 of 2

verb

as in to lazy

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of truant

Adjective

In a late January social media post, district officials said any student participating in a walkout would be considered truant and given an unexcused absence. — Emily Donaldson, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Feb. 2026 In Kentucky, a 2024 law requiring court referrals for truant students led to a surge of families pulling their children out of public schools to homeschool, rather than face legal consequences. — Jon England, Mercury News, 2 Dec. 2025 The Moorhead Resource team steps in when students are at risk of being expelled or becoming truant to create a plan to address any underlying issues. — Caroline Beck, IndyStar, 2 July 2025 School personnel also would be prohibited from referring truant students to police to be ticketed as punishment. — Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica, 29 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for truant

Recent Examples of Synonyms for truant

Adjective

Their carefully polished self-narrative was completely absent.

— Jessica Schaefer, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Kelce himself was absent ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Monday season opener.

— Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of absent

Verb

Working with Nic was like driving a Lamborghini that could shift from unbreakable speed to idling like a purring lioness.

— Griffin Dunne, Vanity Fair, 11 Sep. 2026
The Brampton Assembly Plant, which was previously slated to build the Jeep Compass before Stellantis moved the product out of Canada in 2025 to avoid tariffs, has been idled since 2023.

— Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of idle

Verb

The entire day felt dehumanizing, as if her nearly eight years with the company, her medical problems and her physical pain had been reduced to nothing more than malingering and scattered incidents of tardiness.

— Greg Jaffe, Anchorage Daily News, 18 June 2023
Goldstein, who did not return a message seeking comment, practices in Chicago and has lectured on the topic of malingering, according to a resume posted online.

— Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2023

Definition of malinger

Verb

The joy Lisa has with her RHUGT cast compared with the dread her RHOSLC cast seems to bring her really bums me out — especially because of how much of this trip is championing the sisterhood of Housewives.

— Tom Smyth, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
My conversation partner returned, somehow unable to bum even a single cigarette from anyone at this party.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 July 2026

Definition of bum

Verb

The City of Dallas will furlough city employees for three days to address a $30 million budget shortfall.

— Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Harvey furloughed about 40% of city workers in October after declaring a state of financial distress, including nearly half of the Fire Department.

— Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2026

Definition of furlough

Verb

Gvardiol looked jittery early on, rallied a little to break up some dangerous Porto attacks, but then started giving the ball away again and was booked for a needless pull after being caught dawdling in possession.

— Thom Harris, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Don’t dawdle, though, as the air temperature in the room or your warm hand on the glass can transfer their thermal energy to melt the rest of the ice and then begin to raise the temperature of your drink!

— Matthew Koss, The Conversation, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of dawdle

Verb

The colony also has a population of New Zealand fur seals that laze around the rocks frequented by flocks of seabirds.

— Todd Symons, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
The pigs that would soon enough become lunch lazed in the compost-pile mud in front of a five-star-hotel-worthy view of the Cretan Sea.

— Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 July 2026

Definition of laze

Verb

The second season of The Paper is a sitcom trying to fool itself.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
In July, OpenAI said its models were responsible for a cyber incident on another company, while Anthropic’s Claude models were also responsible for cybersecurity incidents, including in one case where Mythos created fake identities to fool humans.

— Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of fool

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“Truant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/truant. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of truant

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

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