grainier; grainiest
1
: resembling or having some characteristic of grain : not smooth or fine
2
of a photograph : appearing to be composed of grain-like particles
graininess noun

Examples of grainy in a Sentence

The mustard has a grainy texture. grainy sand kept it off the rankings as one of the nation's best beaches
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This causes ice crystals to form during freezing, which can separate and become grainy and dry once thawed. Daryl Austin, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025 The golden past always has the sheen of nostalgia, captured in the wide aspect ratio and softly grainy footage of a Hollywood classic. Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025 In particular, the images were grainy, showing evidence of noise that appeared in horizontal streaks across the field-of-view. Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 3 Sep. 2025 The film grips the attention from the opening frames – grainy archive footage of a man wearing a gas mask who drives a pickup truck down a road bordered by white cylindrical storage containers. Matthew Carey, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for grainy

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of grainy was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Grainy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grainy. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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