Absenteeism is not one missed day. It is the pattern: people staying away from work or school again and again, usually without a reason the boss or the school accepts. A hospital worries about absenteeism when too many nurses call in sick; a school talks about it when the same students keep not turning up. You meet the word in reports, HR, and newspapers more than at the dinner table. Though actually, it does not tell you why people are away — illness, burnout, a bad workplace, or just skipping. It only names the regular absence. One day off is absence; the habit is absenteeism.

曠職；曠課（經常無故缺勤）。台灣學校說「曠課」、職場說「曠職」；中國大陸工作場合較常說「曠工」。