name, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk. ambitransitive

   "It is not uncommon on exam days for several students to malinger rather than prepare themselves."

2. 2
   avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill wordnet
3. 3
   To self-inflict real injury or infection (to inflict self-harm) in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk. ambitransitive

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms

abandoncop outcutdodgedog itduck

Example

More examples

"Don't malinger by making your sprain sound worse than it is."

Etymology

From French malingrer, from adjective malingre (“delicate, fragile”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.