attritional

English

Etymology

From attrition +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

attritional (comparative more attritional, superlative most attritional)

1. Of or pertaining to attrition.

   a prolonged attritional battle

   attritional wear on a molar

   • 2009 February 1, Victoria Coren, “Ah, first love … lots of Steven Berkoff and no snogging”, in The Guardian:

     After months of attritional, heavy-handed flirting […]

   • 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Unknown Species Codex entry:

     Sighted on Habitat 7, this unknown species has proven to be extremely dangerous. Their armor and equipment suggest a technologically advanced species capable of spaceflight, while their battle tactics indicate attritional warfare with a centralized command.

   • 2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport‎^[1], London:

     The drama of the finale was at odds with almost of all the match, which was an attritional affair on a tricky surface.

   • 2025 March 24, David Hytner, “Reece James bends it like Beckham to help England break down Latvia”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     The first half was attritional, too congested for England’s liking. Tuchel has talked about bringing Premier League levels of intensity but that was in short supply.

Derived terms

• attritionally
• attritional mortality

Related terms

• attritive

Anagrams

• titrational, tralatition