detritus

American  

[dih-trahy-tuhs] / dɪˈtraɪ təs /

noun

1. rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.

2. any disintegrated material; debris.

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detritus British  

/ dɪˈtraɪtəs /

noun

1. a loose mass of stones, silt, etc, worn away from rocks

2. an accumulation of disintegrated material or debris

3. the organic debris formed from the decay of organisms

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detritus Scientific  

/ dĭ-trī′təs /

1. Loose fragments, such as sand or gravel, that have been worn away from rock.

2. Matter produced by the decay or disintegration of an organic substance.

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Other Word Forms

• detrital adjective

Etymology

Origin of detritus

1785–95; < French détritus < Latin: a rubbing away, equivalent to dētrī-, variant stem of dēterere to wear down, rub off ( de- de- + terere to rub) + -tus suffix of v. action

Explanation

There aren't many things more depressing than walking on a beautiful beach and discovering a stretch of it that's covered in detritus. Detritus means trash or debris. Usually, detritus refers to waste or junk of some kind, but it can actually mean any accumulation of material, not only man-made stuff. Loose gravel, silt, and sand can all be called detritus, and so can decomposed organic matter, like piles of dead leaves. The Latin word detritus literally means "a wearing away."

Example Sentences

It was still full of stranded belongings and furniture and detritus, but there were no neighbors there anymore.

From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026

After a two-second shot of cosmetic detritus, Suzi Quatro struts onscreen, clapping her hands to the beat of the drummer behind her.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

Dotting the shoreline is a bleak expanse of detritus: timeworn pumps, tottering derricks, wayward cranes and aging pipelines.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2026

A city cleaning crew stages occasional sweeps to collect and throw away the detritus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Not because people here aren't slobs—I’m sure a lot of them are—but they’re so obsessively worried about their property values that they’d rather die than allow the detritus of civilization to sully their curb appeal.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• rubble