Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

malingerer

nounHigh-frequency wordMore M words

a person who pretends to be sick or incapable in order to avoid work or duty

Word origin: From French malingre, sickly.

In a sentence

Malingerer in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing malingerer in a sentence.

The sergeant dismissed the soldier as a malingerer who invented ailments whenever drill was scheduled.

The factory's strict medical reviews were designed less to catch a genuine malingerer than to deter any temptation to fake illness.

Synonyms
shirkerslackerfaker
Antonyms

None listed.

Usage & nuance

Using “malingerer” well

A malingerer deliberately feigns illness or incapacity to escape work or duty, so the word implies conscious deception rather than honest weakness. It differs from someone merely lazy, who makes no pretense of being unable.

Common questions

Questions about “malingerer

Malingerer (noun) means a person who pretends to be sick or incapable in order to avoid work or duty
Here is malingerer used in an example sentence: "The sergeant dismissed the soldier as a malingerer who invented ailments whenever drill was scheduled." Another example: "The factory's strict medical reviews were designed less to catch a genuine malingerer than to deter any temptation to fake illness."
Common synonyms for malingerer include shirker, slacker, faker.
On the GRE, malingerer clusters with shirker, slacker, and faker, often in passages about feigned illness or evasion of responsibility.
Yes. Malingerer is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

Learn words the way the GRE tests them.

Vocabulary sticks when you meet it in real sentences. Practise these words inside text completion and sentence equivalence questions.