hooky

¹

or hook·ey

[ hook-ee ]

noun

1. unjustifiable absence from school, work, etc. (usually used in the phrase play hooky ):

   On the first warm spring day the boys played hooky to go fishing.

hooky

²

[ hook-ee ]

adjective

, hook·i·er, hook·i·est.

1. full of hooks. hook.
2. hook-shaped.

hooky

/ ˈhʊkɪ /

noun

1. informal.
   truancy, usually from school (esp in the phrase play hooky )

Word History and Origins

Origin of hooky¹

1840–50, Americanism; perhaps alteration of phrase hook it escape, make off

Origin of hooky²

First recorded in 1545–55; hook ¹ + -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of hooky¹

C20: perhaps from hook it to escape

Idioms and Phrases

see play hooky .

Example Sentences

“But I was like, I think people love when you do that because it’s weird and funny and hooky. It makes you remember the song more because it’s not correct.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I just tried to think, what's really hooky and what would be fun to sing with a crowd. Those were my parameters.”

From BBC

Supposedly playing hooky from filming a movie, he visits the walrus diorama at the Natural History Museum.

From Los Angeles Times

He developed a sound mixing folk, classic rock, blues and hooky pop, and signed to local independent label Beserkley Records to release his first album in 1976.

From Los Angeles Times

As vigorously as she was moving, her vocals were gutsy and precise in “Femininomenon” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” to name two of the insanely hooky, ’80s-coded jams from “Midwest Princess,” which the singer made with Rodrigo’s most trusted collaborator, producer Dan Nigro, in the wake of being dropped by Atlantic Records in 2000 and moving home to small-town Missouri from Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times