crunchy
adj.describing music that has a rough, distorted, or heavy sound. You use this when the sound feels sharp and powerful rather than smooth.
adj.characterised by a gritty, distorted, or harmonically dense texture, particularly in electronic or rock music. Often used to describe guitar tones or synthesiser patches with high gain or bit-crushing effects.
“The guitar has a really crunchy sound on this track.”
“The producer added some distortion to the bassline to give it a crunchy, aggressive feel that cuts through the mix.”
“While the verses remain melodic and clean, the chorus erupts with crunchy power chords that provide a stark, visceral contrast to the earlier atmospheric sections.”
Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'sound' or 'feel'.
“A homemade style crunchy crisp fried in olive oil is the gold standard here.”
From crunch + -y. The slang sense is derived from the concept of crunchy granola.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.