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malinger
verb
Did you know?
Do you know someone who always seems to develop an ailment when there's work to be done? Someone who merits an Academy Award for his or her superb simulation of symptoms? Then you know a malingerer. The verb malinger comes from the French word malingre, meaning "sickly," and one who malingers feigns illness. In its earliest uses in the early 19th century, malinger usually referred to a soldier or sailor pretending to be sick or insane to shirk duty. Later, psychologists began using malingering as a clinical term to describe the feigning of illness in avoidance of a duty or for personal gain. Today, malinger is used in just about any context in which someone fakes sickness or injury to get out of an undesirable task.
Examples of malinger in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'malinger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
French malingre sickly
1820, in the meaning defined above
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Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
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Cite this Entry
“Malinger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malinger. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
Kids Definition
malinger
verbMedical Definition
malinger
intransitive verb
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