Attrition
[əˈtɹɪʃən]
Last Updated: January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Scrabble:9 ptsWWF:10 pts9 letters
Definition of Attrition
noun
- Wearing or grinding down by friction.
- The gradual reduction in a tangible or intangible resource due to causes that are passive and do not involve productive use of the resource.
- (human resources) A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death.
- The loss of participants during an experiment.
- Imperfect contrition or remorse.
verb
- To grind or wear down through friction.
"attritioned teeth; attritioned rock"
- To reduce the number of (jobs or workers) by not hiring new employees to fill positions that become vacant (often with out).
"As a result of the new policy, people were being attritioned out."
- To undergo a reduction in number.
"The cohort of one hundred students had attritioned to sixty by the end of secondary school."
Anagrams of Attrition
Words You Can Make
50 words can be made from the letters in "attrition":
9-LETTER WORDS
8-LETTER WORDS
+1 Letter Anagrams
Words formed by adding one letter to "attrition" and rearranging:
Related Word Patterns
Synonyms & Antonyms
SYNONYMS
natural wastageattrit
ANTONYMS
accretion