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What adjective you would use to describe a substance consisting of grains of smaller size compared to those of another substance? For example, "Milk powder is ______er than sugar".

Addition:

And if it's possible, please, come up with an antonym of that word.

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2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

I would simply use "finer"

"Milk powder is finer than sugar".

Those different articles ("How Particle Size and Shape is Defined", "Powder Manufacturing Methods", "forum on Imperial sugar", ...) all uses that adjective.

A possible antonym would be "larger", but in this context, a more precise one would be "grainier" or rather (thanks to Robusto; see the comments):
"coarser" (composed of relatively large parts or particles).

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Thank you VonC for your answer and for these links. Can you please also come up with an adjective opposite to "finer". – brilliant Dec 5 '10 at 16:28
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@brilliant: just edited my answer to include possible antonyms. – VonC Dec 5 '10 at 16:31
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+1: Finer is the correct word. I would suggest "coarser" as an antonym, however. – Robusto Dec 5 '10 at 16:42
@Robusto: thank you. I have included it in the answer. – VonC Dec 5 '10 at 16:46
up vote 6 down vote

Milk powder is finer than granulated sugar but coarser than icing sugar.

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