400 Words to Describe Texture

Updated on December 1, 2015

ajbarnett 

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The Difficulty of Describing Texture

Describing texture is a problem for both established and new writers, who often forget to write with senses other than sight. In reality, writers should use every sense.

Here are 400 words to help you find the right word for the texture you're trying to describe.

Not the texture of wood

Nor the texture of steel,

But the texture of you

Is what makes your soul real

— Anonymous

A

Abrading	Affected	Angular	Attractive
Abrasive	Affordable	Arid	Awkward
Acute

B

Bald	Blistered	Bouncy	Bulky
Ballooned	Bloated	Bristly	Bumpy
Barbed	Blunt	Broad	Burning
Bendable	Boiling	Bubbly	Burnished
Biting	Bolstered	Bulging	Bushy
Blemished

C

Caked	Clammy	Cool	Crawly
Caressing	Clean	Copious	Creepy
Carved	Clear	Corduroy	Crenelated
Chafing	Clear-cut	Corrugated	Crocheted
Channelled	Coagulated	Cosy	Crude
Chapped	Coarse	Cottony	Cushioned
Cheap	Coated	Covered in dust	Cut
Cheerful	Cold	Covered with hair	Cut into
Cheery	Concentrated	Covering	Cutting
Chunky	Confused	Cratered

D

Damaged	Definite	Dirty	Dripping
Damp	Dehydrated	Discolouration	Dry
Dank	Dense	Disfigured	Dry as a Bone
Dead flat	Dented	Distended	Ductile
Decorated	Diaphanous	Downy	Dull
Deep	Difficult	Dreary	Durable
Defective	Dirt-free	Drenched	Dusty

E

Effective	Enamelled	Engraved	Even
Elastic	Encrusted	Enlarged	Expanded
Emblazoned	Engorged	Etched	Extreme
Embossed

F

Fatty	Firm	Flawless	Fresh
Feathery	Fizzy	Fleecy	Frigid
Fiery	Flaky	Fluffy	Frothy
Filmy	Flat	Fluted	Furred
Filthy	Flat as a Pancake	Foamy	Furry
Fine	Flattened	Freezing	Fuzzy
Finished	Flawed

G

Gelatinous	Gooey	Gravelly	Gritty
Glassy	Gossamer	Grimy	Grooved
Glazed	Grainy	Grinding	Grubby
Glossy	Granular	Gripped	Grungy
Glutinous	Grating

H

Hairy	Hatched	Hoarse	Hot-pressed
Hard	Hazy	Honeyed	Humid
Harsh	Heated	Hot	Hygienic

I

Icy	Imprinted	Inflexible	Inviting
Ill-defined	Incised	Inlaid	Ironed
Immaculate	Incisive	Inscribed	Irregular
Impenetrable	Incrusted	Inserted	Itchy
Imperfect	Indented	Inset	Ivory
Imprecise	Inflated

J

Jagged	Jarring	Jumbled

K

Keen	Knitted	Knobbed

L

Layered	Limp	Longhaired	Lustrous
Level	Lined	Lustreless

M

Malleable	Mellifluous	Moist	Mushy
Marked	Metallic	Mosaic	Muted
Matte	Mild	Mucky	Mutilated

N

Neat	Not glossy	Not shiny	Numbing
Nonglossy

O

Orderly	Ornamented

P

Padded	Pitted	Pointy	Printed
Parched	Pleated	Polished	Protected
Patinated	Pliable	Potholed	Puffed out
Patterned	Pocked	Precise	Puffed up
Perfect	Pockmarked	Pressed	Pulpy
Piercing	Pointed	Prickly	Pure

R

Ragged	Refined	Ridged	Runny
Rasping	Reflective	Rigid	Rutted
Raw	Restful	Rocking
Razor sharp	Ribbed	Rough

S

Sandy	Sharp-edged	Snarling	Stain
Sanitary	Sheen	Snug	Stamped
Saturated	Sheer	Soaked	Steamed
Scalding	Shielded	Soaking	Steely
Scaled	Shiny	Soapy	Sterile
Scarred	Shipshape	Sodden	Stiff
Scorching	Silky	Soft	Still
Scored	Silky-smooth	Soggy	Stinging
Scraped	Skin	Soiled	Stodgy
Scratched	Sleek	Solid	Strong
Scratching	Slick	Sopping	Stubbly
Scratchy	Slight	Sound	Substantial
Sculptured	Slimy	Sparkling	Supported
Searing	Slippery	Spick-and-span	Sweltering
Serrated	Slovenly	Spikey	Swollen
Set in	Smooth	Spiny	Syrupy
Severe	Smooth as glass	Spongy
Shaggy	Smoothed	Spotless
Sharp	Smudged	Springy

T

Tarnished	Thorny	Tingly	Transparent
Tessellated	Tickling	Toothed	Tweedy
Thick	Tidy	Tough
Thin	Tiled	Translucent

U

Unadulterated	Uncompromising	Unexciting	Untarnished
Unblemished	Unctuous	Uninteresting	Untidy
Unbreakable	Understated	Unpolluted	Unyielding
Unclear	Undulation	Unsoiled
Uncomfortable	Uneven	Untainted

V

Vague	Velvety	Viscous	Vivacious
Varnished	Veneered

W

Warm	Well-defined	Wholesome	Wool
Waterlogged	Well-honed	Wide	Woollen
Wavy	Wet	Withered	Woolly
Welcoming	Whetted	Wooden	Woven

Y

Yielding

Why It's Important to Use Texture Descriptors

Words to describe texture are very important. Though television and the web might have raised the prominence of visual media, the value of touch remains very significant.

A setting can permeate our senses if we just let it. Thank goodness for vision, thank goodness for sound, yet why is it so hard to think of words to describe texture?

• Texture: The quality we know as texture, a sensory perception, is a reflex action to receptor stimulation. Though it is almost intuitive, your work feels flat without it. Get the right word, however, and you will almost magically convey the sensation to your reader.

• Touch: Touch, also known as mechanoreception, is an awareness caused by the stimulation of receptors found on the surface of the skin, tongue, and throat. Assortments of receptors react to differences in pressure (steady, sweeping, continuous, etc.) and are spontaneous (unlike finding the right word to describe something).

A Warning About Adjectives

I hope this list of words to describe texture has been of use, but please remember to use descriptive words with care.

A few words to describe texture and touch can make your work more vivid and give it energy. Overdoing it, however, will make your work seem like a pulpy romance. See what I mean?