Malinger

Malinger \muh-LING-guhr\ , intransitive verb;
1. To feign or exaggerate illness or inability in order to avoid duty or work

This word dates to around 1785 and comes from French malingrer. Malingrer means "to suffer", but it could also imply "pretend to be ill" from malingre ("ailing, sickly"), which is possibly a blend of mingre ("sickly, miserable") and malade ("ill"). Mingre is a blend of maigre ("meager") and haingre ("sick, haggard"), which may be derived from a Germanic root because of the Middle High German word hager, which means "thin".

Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Sunday, February 20
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com