HOOKY Definition & Meaning

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hooky

or ��Ǵǰ�·��

[ hook-ee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

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

[ hook-ee ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

hookier, hookiest.

full of hooks. hook.
hook-shaped.

hooky

/ ˈ��ʊ��ɪ /

noun

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

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51�Թ� 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

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of hooky¹

C20: perhaps from hook it to escape

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Idioms and Phrases

see play hooky .

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Balancing hooky dance-rock with more experimental forays into electronica and even ambient music, they pepper their lyrics with references to online relationships, chemical dependency and wry, self-aware humour.

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“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.”

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

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

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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.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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