grainy
adj.having a rough, uneven texture that you can see or feel. You use this to describe things like old photos, sand, or a rough surface.
adj.having a rough, uneven, or granular texture that is visible to the eye or palpable to the touch. Often used to describe the visual quality of low-resolution images or the tactile quality of certain materials.
“The old photo has a grainy texture.”
“The screen on my phone looks grainy when I watch videos in bright sunlight.”
“The artist used a grainy texture to represent the rough, weathered stone of the ancient ruins, adding a sense of history and decay to the painting.”
From Middle English greyny, equivalent to grain + -y. Piecewise doublet of corny.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.