Meaning & use

malingerer

noun·Advanced

A person who pretends to be ill or exaggerates a condition to avoid work or duty.

See it in a sentence

The sergeant suspected the recruit was a malingerer trying to skip drills.

Insurance investigators are trained to spot malingerers filing false injury claims.

A note on using this word

Malingerer implies deliberate deception about illness, unlike someone who is simply lazy or genuinely unwell.

Words with a similar meaning

shirker

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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