gravitational

American  

[grav-i-tey-shuh-nl] / ˌgræv ɪˈteɪ ʃə nl /

adjective

1. Physics. of or relating to the force of attraction between two masses.

   The gravitational effect of the moon causes the rise and fall of ocean tides.

2. of or relating to a strong movement or natural tendency toward something or someone.

   Their gravitational attraction to self-destructive behavior has been the subject of much study.

---

gravitational British  

/ ˌɡrævɪˈteɪʃənəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or involving gravitation

---

Other Word Forms

• antigravitational adjective
• gravitationally adverb

Etymology

Origin of gravitational

First recorded in 1850–55; gravitation ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Because oil is so central to global manufacturing and transport, paying for it in dollars creates a gravitational pull that dollarizes trade, saving and reserves across the global economy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

I live within the gravitational pull of New York City, and my property value is riding on the continued prosperity of these spreadsheet people, so let’s not pretend that we can spot cheap stocks ourselves.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

And yet, the crew was in the moon’s gravitational arena, where its gravity dominates Earth’s.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

This flexibility makes it useful not just for studying quantum gravity, but also for investigating stochastic gravitational waves, possible dark matter signals, and certain types of experimental noise.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

In the second kind of solution, the universe is expanding so rapidly that the gravitational attraction can never stop it, though it does slow it down a bit.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking