negligence, nonperformance, carelessness, neglect - failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances

escape mechanism - a form of behavior that evades unpleasant realities

malingering, skulking - evading duty or work by pretending to be incapacitated; "they developed a test to detect malingering"

goldbricking, goofing off, shirking, slacking, soldiering - the evasion of work or duty

circumvention - the act of evading by going around

false statement, falsehood, untruth, falsity - a false statement

rejection - the act of rejecting something; "his proposals were met with rejection"

aversion, averting - the act of turning yourself (or your gaze) away; "averting her gaze meant that she was angry"

escape - an avoidance of danger or difficulty; "that was a narrow escape"

near thing - something that barely avoids failure or disaster