Granular means made up of small, separate pieces or details, like the individual grains in a pile of sand. When you look closely at sugar, you see it's composed of countless tiny crystals rather than one solid mass. That's what granular means: composed of distinct little parts you can identify if you pay attention.

Scientists and engineers use this word to describe physical materials. Granular substances like salt, rice, or coffee grounds flow and pile up in specific ways because they're made of separate particles. Beach sand is granular, which is why you can let it slip through your fingers or mold it into a castle.

The word also describes information or plans broken down into fine detail. When your teacher asks for a granular explanation of how you solved a math problem, she wants every small step, including all the intermediate calculations and reasoning. A granular schedule lists exactly which tasks to complete when, like “9:00-9:30: research three sources” rather than just “work on project.” A granular view of your city's population might show how many people live on each individual block, while a less granular view might only show totals for entire neighborhoods.

Think of granular as the opposite of smooth or general. The more granular something is, the more you can see or describe its individual parts.