Vocabulary to describe objects:

material which is made from natural

animal or vegetable substances is
natural; material which is made by a
chemical process is synthetic, man-
made, artificial

material in its natural state is raw

If raw materials continue to become
more expensive, the cost of
manufactured goods is bound to rise
too.

any material made from cotton, wool,

etc which you use for making clothes,
curtains, etc: cloth, fabric

strong/tough/coarse/delicate material

hard
extremely hard: rock hard
I threw the bread away - it was rock
hard.
to become hard: harden
Butter hardens when you put it in the
fridge.

able to stay the same shape when

pressed; quite hard: firm; noun (U):
firmness
a firm cushion/bed

not easily folded, bent, or moved: stiff;

noun (U): stiffness
You can make a box out of stiff paper
or cardboard.

to become stiff: stiffen; to cause sth to

become stiff: stiffen sth
material used to stiffen a belt/collar

hard but easily broken: brittle

Old people often have brittle bones.

very stiff; not possible to bend; very

strong: rigid; noun (U): rigidity
Make sure the tent poles are rigid
able to bend easily without breaking:
flexible
flexible plastic tubing

not hard or firm; changing shape easily

when pressed: soft; noun (U):
softness
a soft bed/pillow soft cheese a
chocolate with a soft centre

to become soft: soften; to make sth

soft: soften sth
Soften the butter by warming it a little.
You can soften your skin by putting
cream on it.

weak and soft; not stiff: limp

Those flowers have gone all limp.

Withered, shrivelled: dried up and

dead
withered leaves

soft, loose and hanging downwards:

floppy
a puppy with floppy ears

smooth and soft to touch; like silk: silky

silky hair silky material

having an even surface with no lumps

or holes: smooth smuːð; noun (U):
smoothness
smooth skin a smooth lawn the
smooth surface of the material the
smoothness of her complexion

strong paper with sand on it, that is

used for rubbing surfaces in order to
make them smoother: sandpaper
(noun U)

not smooth: rough, coarse; noun (U):

roughness
rough skin/hands a rough road The
material was a nice colour but it felt
very rough against the skin.
Lumpy full of lumps (a piece of sth
hard); covered in lumps:
lumpy sauce a lumpy mattress

Scratchy, itchy (of clothes or cloth)

rough and unpleasant to the touch

very rough and broken objects and

materials, with sharp points, can be
called jagged ˈdʒæɡ ɪd
a jagged edge jagged rocks

gelatinous dʒə ˈlæt ɪn əs

thick and sticky, like a jelly:
a gelatinous substance