malinger
/məˈlɪŋɡə
/verb [no object]
Pretend to be ill in order to escape duty or work: people who had psychosomatic complaints were probably malingering...
- Earlier this year a poll found that 40% of small businesses thought employees were malingering when they took sick leave.
- There's a fine line between what's classed as malingering and what is accepted as genuine illness.
- Another woman, with early symptoms of Bubonic plague, was told she was malingering.
Synonyms
pretend to be ill, feign/fake illness, pretend to be an invalid, sham, shirk, skulk
informal put it on
British informal skive, swing the lead
North American informal goldbrick
Origin
Early 19th century: back-formation from malingerer, apparently from French malingre, perhaps formed as mal- 'wrongly' + haingre 'weak', probably of Germanic origin.