Objectives: The aim of the present work was to comparatively investigate the generation and characteristics of fretting and sliding wear debris produced by CuNiAl against 42CrMo4. Methods: Tribological tests were conducted employing a self-developed tribometer. Most experimental conditions were set the same except for the amplitudes and number of cycles. Morphological, chemical, microstructural and dimensional features of the worn area and debris were investigated using optical microscope (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and a laser particle sizer. Outcomes: Not only wear scar profiles but also the wear debris color, distribution and generated amount under fretting and sliding wear modes were quite different, which can be attributed to the significant difference in wear mechanisms. Particle size analysis indicates that the fretting debris has a smaller size distribution range; the biggest detected fretting and sliding wear debris sizes were 141 μm and 355 μm, respectively. Both fretting and sliding debris are mainly composed of copper and its oxides, but the former shows a higher oxidation degree.