Malinger

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /məˈlɪŋɡə/

Definitions

1. To avoid work or responsibility by pretending to be ill or incapable To deliberately act as if one is unwell to escape duties or obligations To simulate an illness or injury with the intent to evade responsibilities
2. To feign or exaggerate illness as a means of shirking responsibilities or duties
3. To deliberately claim to be sick in order to escape tasks or duties

Etymology: The verb came into English from French "malingrer," which meant to be sickly or to lie ill, itself drawn from the adjective "malingre," meaning delicate or fragile. The adjective's roots lie in the Old French pairing of "mal" (bad) with a word for sickly, so the core idea is a person who is badly or weakly off. What makes the story interesting is the shift in direction. The French verb described genuine frailty, a body that was genuinely unwell. In English, the word moved from describing real weakness to describing a pretence of it: someone who fakes sickness to avoid work or duty. The sense of deliberate deception arrived with the English use, so the word now carries the suspicion that the illness is a performance rather than a fact.

Synonyms: shirk, feign, evade

Antonyms: work, perform