texture

American  

[teks-cher] / ˈtɛks tʃər /

noun

• textures
  plural

1. the visual and especially tactile quality of a surface.

   rough texture.

2. the characteristic structure of the interwoven or intertwined threads, strands, or the like, that make up a textile fabric.

   coarse texture.

3. the characteristic physical structure given to a material, an object, etc., by the size, shape, arrangement, and proportions of its parts.

   soil of a sandy texture; a cake with a heavy texture.

4. an essential or characteristic quality; essence.

5. Fine Arts.

   1. the characteristic visual and tactile quality of the surface of a work of art resulting from the way in which the materials are used.

   2. the imitation of the tactile quality of represented objects.

6. the quality given, as to a musical or literary work, by the combination or interrelation of parts or elements.

7. a rough or grainy surface quality.

8. anything produced by weaving; woven fabric.

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verb (used with object)

textured, texturing

1. to give texture or a particular texture to.

2. to make by or as if by weaving.

texture British  

/ ˈtɛkstʃə /

noun

1. the surface of a material, esp as perceived by the sense of touch

   a wall with a rough texture

2. the structure, appearance, and feel of a woven fabric

3. the general structure and disposition of the constituent parts of something

   the texture of a cake

4. the distinctive character or quality of something

   the texture of life in America

5. the nature of a surface other than smooth

   woollen cloth has plenty of texture

6. art the representation of the nature of a surface

   the painter caught the grainy texture of the sand

7. 1. music considered as the interrelationship between the horizontally presented aspects of melody and rhythm and the vertically represented aspect of harmony

      a contrapuntal texture

   2. the nature and quality of the instrumentation of a passage, piece, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to give a distinctive usually rough or grainy texture to

texture Scientific  

/ tĕks′chər /

1. The general physical appearance of a rock, especially with respect to the size, shape, size variability, and geometric arrangement of its mineral crystals (for igneous and metamorphic rocks) and of its constituent elements (for sedimentary rocks). A sandstone that forms as part of an eolian (wind-blown) deposit, for example, has a texture that reflects its small, rounded sand grains of uniform size, while a sandstone that formed as part of a fluvial deposit has a texture reflecting the presence of grains of varying sizes, with some more rounded than others.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retexture
  verb (used with object)
• nontextural
  adjective
• semitextural
  adjective
• textural
  adjective
• textureless
  adjective
• untextural
  adjective
• nontexturally
  adverb
• semitexturally
  adverb
• texturally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• textures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of texture

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin textūra web, equivalent to text ( us ) (past participle of texere to weave) + -ūra -ure

Explanation

Texture is the physical feel of something — smooth, rough, fuzzy, slimy, and lots of textures something in between. Sandpaper is very rough — it has a gritty, rough texture. Other things, like linoleum, have a smooth texture. Texture has to do with how an object feels and its ingredients. Texture is very important in clothes: a cotton shirt has a different texture than a polyester shirt. You can also talk about other kinds of texture, like musical texture. A symphony and a rock song have different instruments, so they have different textures.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

texture textures textured texturing

Once the texture is right, I finish with whatever gives the soup its final bit of life: herbs, citrus zest, salt, black pepper, maybe cream.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

Photorealistic renderings of shrimp that resemble life preservers and chicken parts with the texture of dinosaur skin have elicited disgust and nausea, with an undercurrent of existential, eldritch horror.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Differences in the texture and density of the regolith, for example, could influence how rover wheels move across the surface.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

This pole won’t be used just yet — it arrives with a texture that can be slick or uneven, so the troupe must spend a couple weeks prepping it for better gripping and friction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

It’s mushy, with a weird texture, and has way too much pepper.

From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm

A poached whitefish dish was another standout, paired with rice prepared in several different ways to add contrasting textures.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

I’d run my fingers across the convex pyramid textures in the same way other people lay under a weighted blanket or ate sour candy, jolting my subconscious back into the here and now.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

The record concludes with “Tyrants of the Mellow Moon,” a final ode to AutoTune with a circular chord production and unusual synth textures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

You might be hearing about them because historically, berries with bumpy textures, especially raspberries and blackberries, have been linked to cyclosporiasis outbreaks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

They feature different looks—nose shapes, hair and eye colors, facial structures, hair textures, body shapes, and skin tones—matched with fabric swatches and rouge-stick smudges and nail lacquer.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Slouchy hoodies over gossamer layers, wired cage-like corsets, an earthy milieu of silky, quilted and textured fabrics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Among them was Cameron’s upstairs work loft, where Alix ripped out the carpet before adding dark gray textured walls, wood flooring, custom black shelving, weathered-looking light fixtures, and a large glass table.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

But the characterizations are too flimsy, the world only moderately textured.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

The Grade II listed building divided opinion when it first opened but is now widely regarded as a landmark of brutalist architecture, with its textured concrete, riverside terraces and three auditoriums.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

The de Vries family is even wealthier than I'd realized; the furnishings in the rooms we pass are ornate and expensive-looking, with paintings on the walls and a rich, textured wallpaper.

From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

"We think this texturing is a strong candidate for everyday use and we're ready to partner with companies to refine it for large-scale manufacturing," she said.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026

“The texturing on the Lego brick does a really good job of antialiasing.”

From The Verge ● Aug. 20, 2022

“There was a certain amount of resiliency that made the texturing, I thought, ‘Wow that is what I had been missing,’ ” Jackson remembered.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 24, 2020

The bust was then digitally scanned for a complex animation process that combined the facial movement capture of an actor, skin texturing and shading.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2018

Art concepts include modeling, texturing, organic and inorganic work and unwrapping – which Gaber describes as figuring out where lines will go for filling in, "kind of like paint by numbers."

From US News ● Jan. 25, 2016

Related Words

• balance
• character
• composition
• consistency
• fabric
• feeling
• makeup
• nature
• pattern
• quality
• sense
• smoothness
• structure
• surface
• taste
• touch