nice

¹

[ nahys ]

adjective

, nic·er, nic·est.

1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful:

   a nice visit.

   Antonyms: unpleasant

2. amiably pleasant; kind:

   They are always nice to strangers.

   Synonyms: friendly

   Antonyms: unkind

3. characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy:

   nice workmanship; a nice shot; a nice handling of a crisis.

   Synonyms: particular, discerning, discriminating, scrupulous, critical, exacting, exact, delicate

   Antonyms: careless

4. showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as instruments:

   a job that requires nice measurements.

5. minute, fine, or subtle:

   a nice distinction.

6. having or showing delicate, accurate perception:

   a nice sense of color.

7. refined in manners, language, etc.:

   Nice people wouldn't do such things.

   Synonyms: polite

8. virtuous; respectable; decorous:

   a nice girl.

9. suitable or proper:

   That was not a nice remark.

   Antonyms: improper

10. carefully neat in dress, habits, etc.

    Synonyms: finicky, finical

11. (especially of food) dainty or delicate.
12. having fastidious, finicky, or fussy tastes:

    They're much too nice in their dining habits to enjoy an outdoor barbecue.

    Synonyms: finicky, finical

13. Obsolete. coy, shy, or reluctant.
14. Obsolete. unimportant; trivial.
15. Obsolete. wanton.

Nice

²

[ nees ]

noun

1. a port in and the capital of Alpes-Maritimes, in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean: known as a vacation resort.

nice

¹

/ naɪs /

adjective

1. pleasant or commendable

   a nice day

2. kind or friendly

   a nice gesture of help

3. good or satisfactory

   they made a nice job of it

4. subtle, delicate, or discriminating

   a nice point in the argument

5. precise; skilful

   a nice fit

6. rare.
   fastidious; respectable

   he was not too nice about his methods

7. obsolete.
   1. foolish or ignorant
   2. delicate
   3. shy; modest
   4. wanton
8. nice and
   nice and pleasingly

   it's nice and cool

NICE

²

/ naɪs /

acronym for

1. (in Britain) National Institute for Clinical Excellence: a body established in 1999 to provide authoritative guidance on current best practice in medicine and to promote high-quality cost-effective medical treatment in the NHS

Nice

³

/ nis /

noun

1. a city in SE France, on the Mediterranean: a leading resort of the French Riviera; founded by Phocaeans from Marseille in about the 3rd century bc . Pop: 342 738 (1999)

Nice

1. City in southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea .

Sensitive Note

The semantic history of nice is quite varied, as the etymology and the obsolete senses attest, and any attempt to insist on only one of its present senses as correct will not be in keeping with the facts of actual usage. If any criticism is valid, it might be that the word is used too often and has become a cliché lacking the qualities of precision and intensity that are embodied in many of its synonyms.

Notes

Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera .

Derived Forms

• ˈniceness, noun
• ˈnicish, adjective
• ˈnicely, adverb

Other Words From

• nicely adverb
• niceness noun
• over·nice adjective
• over·nicely adverb
• over·niceness noun
• un·nice adjective
• un·nicely adverb
• un·niceness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nice¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English: “foolish, stupid,” from Old French: “silly, simple,” from Latin nescius “ignorant, incapable,” equivalent to ne- negative prefix + sci- (stem of scīre “to know”; science ) + -us adjective suffix

Origin of nice²

From French, ( Provençal Niça ), from Latin Nīcaea, from Greek Nīkaía, proper noun use of adjective nīkaía “victorious,” from nī́kē “victory”

Word History and Origins

Origin of nice¹

C13 (originally: foolish): from Old French nice simple, silly, from Latin nescius ignorant, from nescīre to be ignorant; see nescience

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make nice, to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.
2. nice and, sufficiently:

   It's nice and warm in here.

Example Sentences

From there we took the train to Nice, France, but the French border control caught us and sent us back to Italy.

From The Daily Beast

Another beautiful Eminor number, with a nice shift up to the major for the chorus.

From The Daily Beast

Champagne, which is also acidic, offers a nice complement to anything from tuna tartare to beef bourguignon.

From The Daily Beast

And there are a few nice things buried beneath the rubble that I could use in my apartment.

From The Daily Beast

It was also nice to have a place where my family and friends could see what was going on in my life.

From The Daily Beast

There is more of artfulness in the flatteries which appear to involve a calculating intention to say the nice agreeable thing.

From Project Gutenberg

I don't care, it ain't nice, and I wonder aunt brought us to such a place.

From Project Gutenberg

And right after that, some nice sour milk would come splashing down into the trough of the pen.

From Project Gutenberg

The boy backed away from him, and stood a little distance off, holding out a nice, juicy potato this time.

From Project Gutenberg

"I don't think that is a very nice taste," said Davy, beginning to feel very uneasy.

From Project Gutenberg