Translation guide
Describes a surface, texture, image, or sound that has a visible or tactile grain, or lacks smoothness/clarity. Japanese expressions depend on what is grainy: wood, skin, photos, video, voice, etc.
Describing a surface that feels rough or has a granular texture, like sandpaper, unpolished wood, or coarse skin.
An onomatopoeic word for a rough, gritty, or granular texture. Commonly used for skin, surfaces, or substances.
This paper is grainy.
My skin becomes grainy/rough.
Literally 'granular' or 'in grain form'. More technical, used for substances like sugar, sand, or photographic grain.
granulated sugar (grainy sugar)
Specifically for wood with a coarse, open grain. '木目' means wood grain, '粗い' means coarse.
This table is made of grainy oak.
Describing a photo, video, or screen that looks noisy, pixelated, or lacking sharpness, often due to low resolution or high ISO.
Literally 'has a lot of noise'. The most common way to say a digital image or video is grainy/noisy.
This photo is grainy because it has a lot of noise.
When you shoot in the dark, the footage becomes grainy.
Means 'image quality is coarse/rough'. Used for low-resolution or heavily compressed images.
a grainy photo
Literally 'particles are coarse'. Refers to film grain or digital noise in a technical photography context.
High ISO film is grainy.
Describing audio that has static, crackling, or a rough texture, like an old recording or poor microphone.
Describing food that has a gritty or sandy texture, like a poorly washed vegetable or a granular paste.
Onomatopoeia for a gritty, sandy texture in food, like biting into sand or dirt.
This spinach is grainy. Maybe it wasn't washed properly.
Also used for food, but more general roughness rather than specifically sandy grit.
It feels grainy on the tongue.
ざらざら is a general rough/grainy texture (sandpaper, dry skin, low-res image). じゃりじゃり specifically describes a sandy, gritty texture often associated with food or small hard particles (sand in food, sugar that hasn't dissolved).
The katakana word グレイニー (gureinii) is not commonly used in Japanese. Stick to native descriptions like ざらざら or ノイズが多い depending on context.