Lied about avoiding work (4)
I believe the answer is:
idle
'avoiding work' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lied about' is the wordplay.
'about' is an anagram indicator.
'lied' anagrammed gives 'IDLE'.
(Other definitions for idle that I've seen before include "Mike" , "Indolent" , "Reluctant to work - Pythonesque Eric" , "Lied about being lazy or not working" , "Maybe Eric" .)