absenteeism
n.n. the habit of staying away from a place, especially a school or a job, without a good reason. It is often used to describe when people are not there when they should be.
n. the habitual absence from a place of work or study, especially without a valid excuse. Often used in administrative or legal contexts to describe patterns of non-attendance.
The school is trying to reduce student absenteeism.
High levels of absenteeism in the office led to a temporary hiring freeze until the cause of the problem was identified.
The management implemented a new policy to track absenteeism more accurately, hoping that the data would help identify underlying health or morale issues within the department.
From absentee + -ism.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated May 18, 2026