English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate » Unit 59: Texture, brightness, weight and density

Word List
  • bright
  • brightness
  • bulky
  • coarse
  • cumbersome
  • dazzling
  • dense
  • density
  • dim
  • dull
  • feel
  • fine n, adj
  • furry
  • glare
  • heavy as lead
  • hollow
  • jagged
  • light as a feather
  • polished
  • prickly
  • rough
  • shady
  • shiny
  • silky
  • sleek
  • slippery
  • smooth
  • solid
  • sparse
  • surface
  • texture
  • thick
  • thin
  • underfoot
  • vivid
  • weight
Exercises

59.1 ‣ Which adjectives from A opposite could describe the texture of these things?

  1. A new cotton T-shirt.
  2. Heavy, stone-ground wholemeal flour. _____
  3. A wet bar of soap. _____
  4. The branches of a rose bush. _____
  5. A gravel pathway. _____
  6. The inside of a pair of sheepskin gloves. _____
  7. The edge of a piece of broken, rusty metal. _____
  8. The surface of a mirror. _____
  9. A silk scarf. _____
  10. An empty sack. _____

59.2 ‣ Rewrite the sentences. Look at the words in bold and follow the instructions in brackets.

  1. The material felt metallic. (change to noun)
  2. The cloth was rough when you touched it. (change to noun)
    _____
  3. We sat in a part of the garden where there was shade. (change to adjective)
    _____
  4. Suddenly there was a light which dazzled everyone. (change to adjective)
    _____
  5. The ground was very wet under our feet. ( change to adverb)
    _____
  6. My suitcase weighs very little. (use feather)
    _____

59.3 ‣ Match the sentence beginnings on the left with the endings on the right.

  1. We walked through the jungle vegetation,
  2. We found it inside an old tree, _____
  3. We loved the new colour, _____
  4. We examined the desert vegetation, _____
  5. We tried to drill into the rock, _____
  6. We couldn't lift the box, _____
  1. a) which was hollow.
  2. b) which was absolutely solid.
  3. c) which was as heavy as lead.
  4. d) which was very vivid.
  5. e) which was very dense.
  6. f) which was very sparse.

59.4 ‣ What could you do if …

  1. your reading lamp was rather dim?
  2. you were fed up with the dull colour of the walls in your room?
    _____
  3. you found the glare of the sun uncomfortable?
    _____
  4. you wanted your shoes to be shiny?
    _____
  5. your rucksack was too bulky or cumbersome?
    _____

59.5 ‣

Over to you

Look round your own home and find …

  1. something soft to the touch.
    _____
  2. something rough underfoot.
    _____
  3. something with a polished surface.
    _____
  4. something furry.
    _____
  5. something smooth.
    _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Texture - how something feels when you touch it

adjectivetypical examples
smooth /smuːð/the paper in this book
polishedvarnished wood; a shiny metal surface
silkysilk itself; fine, expensive tights or stockings
slipperya fish just out of the water
furry /ˈfɜːri/a thick sheepskin rug
rough /rʌf/new, unwashed denim jeans; bark of a tree
coarse /kɔːs/sand
jagged /ˈʤægɪd/sharp, irregular edges of broken glass or metal
pricklya thistle; a cactus; thorns on a rose

Your hair has a silky feel. This cotton is very smooth to the touch. The table had a beautiful polished surface. /ˈsɜːfɪs/ The ground was rough underfoot.

B ‣ Brightness


  1. a shady corner of the garden

  2. carnival costumes full of vivid colours

  3. shiny leather shoes

  4. a dazzling light

You wear such dull colours - why don't you start wearing bright colours for a change?

The light's too dim to read in here. We need another lamp.

I wear sunglasses when I drive because of the glare of the sun.

C ‣ Density and weight

A solid ≠ hollow object. She has thick ≠ thin/fine hair.

An area with dense ≠ sparse vegetation.

Your bag's as light as a feather! Have you brought enough?

Your bag's as heavy as lead! What's in it? Bricks?

This suitcase is very bulky/cumbersome. /ˈkʌmbəsəm/ [difficult, big and heavy]

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