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Glite Dictionary
malingering

malingering

1 9.1
Pretending to be ill or injured to avoid work
  • noun
  • /məˈlɪŋɡərɪŋ/
  • Formal
translation icon : simulación
  • Major causes of amnesia are... substance abuse, seizures, head injuries and malingering.

Thing is, for many, gas led to panic, fear, malingering and outright desertion.

Examples

  • Those diagnosed as suffering from secondary PTSD are even more likely to be written off as malingering and seen as weak.

    Academic text (2012)

  • There are several screening tools used to weed out malingering, and they are not perfect but very accurate.

    Blog text (32)

  • This ambiguity led to accusations of malingering among soldiers.

    Academic text (2012)

  • It's commonly called malingering in the psych profession.

  • Factitious illness is rare in otolaryngology, and it is different from malingering, which is not uncommon in otolaryngologic practice.

    Academic text (2006)

  • While tardiness, absenteeism, slowdowns, malingering, and even sabotage demonstrated subtle forms of resistance to the new techniques of control, scientific management was most controversial among managers, not workers.

    Academic text (1997)

  • She was accused of malingering when she called in sick after a long weekend.

  • The manager noticed a pattern of malingering among the employees when they frequently faked illnesses on Mondays.

  • Detectives are trained to spot malingering in individuals seeking to avoid legal consequences.

Synonyms

feigning
vsmalingering
1 7.4

Pretending to have an illness or feeling to trick others

pretends illness or incapacity specifically not any general falsehood
goldbricking
vsmalingering
  • Archaic
1 9.6

Avoiding work by pretending to be busy

pretends illness or incapacity to avoid duty rather than seem busy
weaponized incompetence
vsmalingering
  • Neologism
9.7

Someone acts like they cannot do a task to avoid doing it

pretends illness or incapacity to avoid duty rather than task inability

Antonyms

diligence
60 4.1

Careful, steady work that helps you reach a goal

How Deceptive

malingering
  • Formal
1 9.1
feigning
1 7.4

Surface Forms

malingering singular
malingerings plural

Morphology

malingering = malinger (transparent) = malinger + ing

The verb 'malinger' plus the productive gerundive/nominalizing suffix '-ing' yields the noun meaning 'the act of malingering', which is directly and transparently derived.

Etymology

Malingering comes from the old French word malingre, which meant 'sickly' and used the part mal- meaning 'bad'. So malingering began as pretending to be ill, and today it means acting sick to avoid work or duty.