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🚫 To not attend 🏃‍♂️ To leave secretly 🦘 To hop playfully 🦘 A light hop 🪨 To bounce on water
to skip

to skip

147 3.7
To leave a place quickly and secretly to avoid trouble
  • verb
  • /skɪp/
  • Informal
translation icon : escabullirse
  • You skipped class, ignored me for a week, just to throw it away?
  • skip town

Examples

  • You want to skip out now?

    Los Angeles (2021)

  • The same twenty either went to work early or skipped lunch in order to attend class.

    Academic text (2013)

  • "Usually you give warning if we have to skip out in the middle of the night."

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Why not just skip the week and pretend this whole mess never happened?

  • With this peer group, Marie would frequently skip school, smoke, and use drugs or alcohol.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Well, obviously not or I'd have known you'd skip town on me.

    Smurfs (2025)

  • I was very good at math from the start, so I nearly skipped the second grade.

    Academic text (1995)

  • She is only incriminating herself skipping town after a situation like that.

    Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2024)

  • After his unexpected argument with his boss, he decided to skip town to avoid confrontation.

  • She plans to skip her meeting to take care of her sick child.

Synonyms

to run away
vsto skip
550 1.6

To leave secretly and quickly to get away from danger or control

focuses on avoiding trouble or attention rather than escaping control
to run off
vsto skip
  • Informal
260 3.7

To leave a place or person suddenly, often without saying goodbye

is about leaving secretly to avoid attention rather than abduction
to sneak out
vsto skip
  • Informal
125 3.7

To leave a place quietly so no one notices you

is used more to avoid trouble or attention rather than only stealth
to run out
vsto skip
78 2.0

Leave a place suddenly, often to avoid someone or something

is about leaving secretly to avoid trouble rather than mere haste
to slip out
vsto skip
39 3.8

To leave a place quietly without anyone noticing

is about leaving to avoid trouble or attention rather than merely escaping notice
to sneak off
vsto skip
  • Informal
33 4.0

Leave a place quietly so others do not notice

is the broader term used when leaving avoids trouble or unwanted attention
to slip away
vsto skip
32 3.4

To leave a place quietly without anyone noticing

focuses on avoiding trouble or attention rather than mere escape
to skip town
vsto skip
  • Informal
28 8.1

Leave a place suddenly and secretly to avoid trouble or debt

is broader, not limited to debt or specific responsibilities
to skip out
vsto skip
  • Informal
22 7.2

To leave without telling anyone to avoid a duty or responsibility

is the broader term for secret leaving not only to avoid duties
to sneak away
vsto skip
  • Informal
17 3.6

To leave a place quietly without being noticed

emphasizes avoiding trouble or unwanted attention rather than only not being noticed
to hightail it
vsto skip
  • Informal
16 8.4

To leave a place quickly to avoid trouble or danger

emphasizes secret avoidance of trouble or attention rather than fast flight
to duck out
vsto skip
  • Informal
12 7.2

To leave a place quickly and quietly to avoid something you should do

is used for secret sudden leaving mainly to avoid trouble or attention
to fly the coop
vsto skip
  • Informal
12 7.9

To leave a place suddenly without permission

is used for secret leaving to avoid attention rather than escape confinement
to abscond
vsto skip
  • Formal
11 8.5

To leave quickly and secretly with money or things to avoid being caught

is used for general secret leaving rather than legal flight
to fled the scene
vsto skip
11 4.4

Leave a place quickly to avoid being caught after causing or seeing trouble

is a broader term for secret leaving not limited to post incident escape
to get out of Dodge
vsto skip
  • Informal
7 9.2

Leave a place quickly to avoid trouble or danger

is used more generally and not tied to a specific location
to run out of town
vsto skip
5 6.6

Leave a place quickly because people are angry or you are in trouble

is broader, not confined to leaving because of pressure or disgrace
to make tracks
vsto skip
  • Informal
5 7.2

Leave quickly to go somewhere or to avoid trouble

focuses on avoiding trouble or attention rather than only hurrying away
to decamp
vsto skip
4 8.5

To leave a place quickly and secretly to avoid being caught

is the general term for secret departure without legal emphasis
to steal away
vsto skip
4 6.3

To leave a meeting or party quietly so no one notices

focuses on avoiding trouble or attention rather than only quiet departure
to take a powder
vsto skip
  • Archaic
4 9.9

To leave a place suddenly without telling anyone to avoid trouble

highlights leaving to avoid trouble or unwanted attention in general
to bug-out
vsto skip
  • Slang
3 8.2

To leave a place quickly to escape danger

is the general term for secret leaving rather than only emergencies
to vamoose
vsto skip
  • Informal
3 8.8

To leave quickly to avoid trouble or questions

focuses on avoiding trouble or attention rather than mere haste
to blow town
vsto skip
  • Informal
2 9.8

To leave a place quickly to avoid trouble

is used more generally for secret leaving to avoid attention rather than only escape
to rush away
vsto skip
2 2.5

Leave a place quickly because you are in a hurry

is about leaving to avoid trouble or unwanted attention rather than simple haste
to dip out
vsto skip
  • Informal
1 9.1

To leave a place quietly or suddenly without telling others

is the general secret leaving word focused on avoiding attention rather than responsibility
to pop off
vsto skip
  • UK
1 7.9

To leave a place quickly, often without saying goodbye

is used for sudden secret leaving specifically to avoid trouble or attention
to skidoo
vsto skip
  • Archaic
9.1

To leave quickly to avoid trouble or attention

is the neutral description for secret leaving to avoid trouble
to skiddoo
vsto skip
  • Archaic
9.9

To leave quickly to escape trouble

focuses on secret or sudden leaving aimed at avoiding attention
to absquatulate
vsto skip
  • Archaic
9.9

To leave a place quickly and secretly, often taking things or someone

is the general form of secret sudden leaving without the taking element

Antonyms

to stay
∞ 1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

to linger
207 3.7

To stay in a place longer than expected because you do not want to leave

Idioms

to skip a beat
  • Informal
9 6.1

To feel your heart stop for a moment because you are suddenly excited or scared

Phrasal Verbs

to skip the detail
  • Informal
56 3.6

Leave out small or less important information when explaining something

to skip town
  • Informal
28 8.1

Leave a place suddenly and secretly to avoid trouble or debt

to skip out
  • Informal
22 7.2

To leave without telling anyone to avoid a duty or responsibility

to skip over
18 3.2

To move past something without doing or saying it

to hop-skip
1 5.4

To move forward with small quick jumps using one foot then the other

to skip the gym
  • Informal
1 4.1

Choose not to go to a planned gym workout

Compounds

skip rope
  • US
1 2.1

A long rope with handles that you jump over for exercise

skip distance
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The shortest distance from a radio transmitter where radio waves bounced by the ionosphere can be picked up

How Secretly

to abscond
  • Formal
11 8.5
to skip
  • Informal
147 3.7
to sneak away
  • Informal
17 3.6
to slip out
39 3.8
to leave
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

skip infinitive
skipped past
skipped past participle
skipping present participle
skips third person singular

Etymology

Skip comes from an old word meaning 'to leap', and people began to use it for quickly 'leaping away' from a place. So to skip town or to skip after a problem is to leave suddenly or secretly.