Tried working without energy - you start to get dishonest (5)
I believe the answer is:
dirty
'dishonest' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dirty that I've seen before include "Lewd" , "Foul; filthy" , "A couple of days coupling?" , "Salacious" , "Soiled" .)