The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word QUALITY
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
Q
U
A
L
I
T
Y
More clues leading to the result QUALITY
- Type of street that’s demolished at Xmas? It’s cracking
- Property in harbour’s bright inside
- Characteristic of drunk entering wharf
- Standard ablaze in dock
- Property set fire to in harbour
- Character landed in wharf
- Non-discrimination not the foremost attribute
- Character illuminated in landing-place
- Wharf illuminated on the inside level
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "attribute" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case attribute = quality.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does QUALITY mean?
QUALITY noun- Level of excellence.
- A property or an attribute that differentiates a thing or person.
- High social position. (See also the quality.)
- The degree to which a man-made object or system is free from bugs and flaws, as opposed to scope of functions or quantity of items.
- In a two-phase liquid–vapor mixture, the ratio of the mass of vapor present to the total mass of the mixture.
- The third step in OPQRST where the responder investigates what the NOI/MOI feels like.
- A newspaper with relatively serious, high-quality content.
- Being of good worth, well made, fit for purpose.