malinger
/məˈlɪŋɡə/
"malinger" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“malinger” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.
Corpus desk
Index EN-malinger · malinger · English
malinger · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | malinger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /məˈlɪŋɡə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “malinger” in English
Rare enough to double-check
malinger is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /məˈlɪŋɡə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
malinger has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French malingrer, from adjective malingre (“delicate, fragile”). The correct English form is malinger, spelled M-A-L-I-N-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1To feign illness, injury, or incapacitation in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.
- 2To self-inflict real injury or infection (to inflict self-harm) in order to avoid work, obligation, or perilous risk.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how malinger appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It is not uncommon on exam days for several students to malinger rather than prepare themselves.
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! / Smoothed by long fingers, / Asleep … tired … or it malingers, / Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Etymology
From French malingrer, from adjective malingre (“delicate, fragile”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.