attritional
1
8.6
- adjective
- /əˈtrɪʃənl/
- That such a pronouncement unfolds as a sort of attritional decline, rather than in an explosion of spectacular force, illuminates the slow violence that informs Conrad's understanding of imperial conquest.
Examples
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Besides the renunciation of force and the pursuit of reconciliation with former foes, there is what one might call attritional multilateralism.
Academic text (1994) -
Normally, violence is conceived as something that is "immediate in time, explosive and spectacular in space," but slow violence occurs gradually and out of sight and is attritional (2).
Academic text (2018) -
Ironically, the patient, attritional approach of Israeli military action is a mirror image of the Arabs' persevering "resistance" (muqawama) strategy.
Academic text (2015) -
The attritional nature of the campaign meant that both sides suffered heavy losses over time.
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Many businesses face attritional challenges as they struggle to maintain growth in a competitive market.
-
Her attritional approach to solving problems often resulted in gradual improvements rather than immediate changes.
Synonyms
1
9.9
Causing something to become smaller, weaker, or less effective over time
How Wearing
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Attritional comes from the Latin verb atterere, which means 'to rub', and is related to the word attrition meaning 'wearing away'. So, to call something attritional is to say it slowly wears people or things down over time.