hooky
hooky Lexical Profile
hooky Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American Truancy or unauthorized absence from school or work (used chiefly in the phrase 'play hooky').
"Several high school seniors decided to play hooky on the first warm afternoon of spring."
• adjective
Having memorable, catchy musical phrases or hooks that easily capture a listener's attention.
"The band's latest single is an upbeat, hooky pop track that stayed on the radio all summer."
Full of hooks, or curved and shaped like a hook.
"The thorny shrub had tough, hooky branches that snagged our jackets along the trail."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a noun meaning truancy (also spelled 'hookey'), it is used almost exclusively in the North American idiom 'play hooky'. As an adjective in popular music, it describes a song filled with catchy melodic hooks.
• Rhymes for hooky
Word Origin & Etymology
The truancy sense originated in mid-19th-century American student slang, likely from the earlier colloquial phrase 'hook Jack' (to play truant) or 'hook it' (to run away or escape).