1. to be away from school without permission
Out on the playground, a boy from another homeroom cavorted around on a dirt bike, doing wheelies. He was playing hooky, but evidently couldn't stay away.
— Tracy Kidder When he was a small child [Babe] Ruth was a holy terror. He had incredible energy, was relentlessly active and was always in trouble. He played hooky from school. He stole fruits and vegetables from stores, threw them at truck-drivers and ran and hid from the police.
— Robert W. Creamer He [Tom Sawyer] moped to school gloomy and sad, and took his flogging, along with Joe Harper, for playing hookey the day before, with the air of one whose heart was busy with heavier woes and wholly dead to trifles.
— Mark Twain also to be away from work or similar duties in a way likened to a child skipping school
Hawkins is a tanned, muscular man in his 40s who's playing hooky today from his job as a printer's ink chemist.
— Doug Stewart Most New Yorkers were at work last Tuesday while the official ceremony was going on—and many of those who played hooky chose to go to the ticker-tape parade for the world champion New York Mets.
— David Gates … in 1948 I once played hookey from my radio writing job with Edgar Bergen to play in the Santa Monica Open.
— Arthur Marx

2. curved or bent like a hook
Her nose was long and hooky, and she had no teeth—or if she had them, they weren't in her mouth.
— K. C. Constantine His coal-black, glossy hair commanded and obtained her admiration, and she found his hooky nose to be handsome.
— Anthony Trollope

3. appealing and easy to remember catchy
a hooky melody/tune/rhythm … combining scintillating rhythm tracks with a kaleidoscope of hooky musical styles …
— Dave Marsh Wild is a vibrant, hooky pop song flavored with Joni Mitchell illusions and funk.
— Nelson George

4. truant
She played hooky from work.