Texture is how something feels when you touch it, or how it looks like it would feel. A cat's fur has a soft, smooth texture. Tree bark has a rough, bumpy texture. A basketball has a pebbly texture that helps players grip it.

Texture matters in all kinds of ways. Chefs think about texture when cooking: crispy fried chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, and crunchy lettuce all have different textures that make food more interesting to eat. Artists consider texture too: a painter might add thick globs of paint to create actual texture you can feel, or use clever brushstrokes to make a flat painting look textured, like rough stone or soft fabric.

The word can describe sounds as well. Music teachers talk about texture when they mean how different instruments or voices blend together. A single flute playing alone has a thin, simple texture, while an entire orchestra playing together creates a rich, layered texture, with many sounds woven together.

You might hear someone describe writing as having texture when it's full of vivid, specific details that make you feel like you're really there. Good descriptive writing has texture because it helps readers imagine not just what things look like, but what they'd feel like to touch.