1
general::
Phrase(s): play hooky
to fail to attend school or some other event. • Why aren’t you in school? Are you playing hooky? • I don’t have time for the sales meeting today, so I think I’ll just play hooky.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Be absent from school or some other obligation without permission, as in It was such a beautiful day that Herb played hooky from work. In this term, the noun hooky may have come from the phrase book it, meaning "escape." [Mid-1800s]
American Heritage Idioms