ponteng

P3O1N1T1E1N1G2

verb

To skip (school or work); play truant.

Scrabble 10
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Meanings

verbponteng (third-person singular simple present pontengs, present participle pontenging, simple past and past participle pontenged)

present singular third person pontengs · participle present pontenging · participle past pontenged · past pontenged

  1. ManglishSinglishTo skip (school or work); play truant.

    But that was the best place to spend the day if you pontenged school. It was so cool and quiet.

    Quoted in 2009, Rosaly Puthucheary, Different Voices: The Singaporean/Malaysian Novel (page 124)
    1 more example

    […] she rushed up to me at the end shouting: "Hei you came! Did you ponteng work?" I do not advocated "pontenging" of course but I do strongly recommend one primary school sports meet at least for each parent and soon.

    1978, Adibah Amin, As I was Passing, volume 2, page 197

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from Malay ponteng.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ponteng. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponteng

MLA

“ponteng.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponteng. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ponteng,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ponteng.

Source: ponteng on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.