nice
adjective
pleasing; agreeable; delightful.
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nice
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Nice
Nicenouna port in and the capital of Alpes-Maritimes, in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean: known as a vacation resort.
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NICE
NICEacronym(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
1 American
[nahys]
/ naɪs /
adjective
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nicer,
comparative
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nicest
superlative
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pleasing; agreeable; delightful.
a nice visit.
- Antonyms:
- unpleasant
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amiably pleasant; kind.
They are always nice to strangers.
- Synonyms:
- friendly
- Antonyms:
- unkind
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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
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showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as instruments.
a job that requires nice measurements.
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minute, fine, or subtle.
a nice distinction.
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having or showing delicate, accurate perception.
a nice sense of color.
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refined in manners, language, etc..
Nice people wouldn't do such things.
- Synonyms:
- polite
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virtuous; respectable; decorous.
a nice girl.
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suitable or proper.
That was not a nice remark.
- Antonyms:
- improper
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carefully neat in dress, habits, etc.
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(especially of food) dainty or delicate.
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having fastidious, finicky, or fussy tastes.
They're much too nice in their dining habits to enjoy an outdoor barbecue.
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Obsolete. coy, shy, or reluctant.
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Obsolete. unimportant; trivial.
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Obsolete. wanton.
idioms
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nice and, sufficiently.
It's nice and warm in here.
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make nice, to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.
Nice
2
American
[nees]
/ nis /
noun
Nice
1
British
/ nis /
noun
nice
2
British
/ naɪs /
adjective
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pleasant or commendable
a nice day
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kind or friendly
a nice gesture of help
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good or satisfactory
they made a nice job of it
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subtle, delicate, or discriminating
a nice point in the argument
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precise; skilful
a nice fit
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rare fastidious; respectable
he was not too nice about his methods
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obsolete
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foolish or ignorant
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delicate
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shy; modest
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wanton
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pleasingly
it's nice and cool
NICE
3
British
/ naɪs /
acronym
Nice
Cultural
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.
Discover More
Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nicenessnoun
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overnicenessnoun
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unnicenessnoun
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nicishadjective
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overniceadjective
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unniceadjective
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nicelyadverb
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overnicelyadverb
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unnicelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
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”; see 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”
Explanation
To be nice is to be pleasant and good-natured. Polite people and sunny days are nice. Nice people and situations are enjoyable and don't cause problems. If you say something rude (or honest) to your sibling, your parents might say "Be nice!" This word is a little vague and overused. Like interesting, it's hard to know what people really mean when they say nice. One meaning is easier to figure out: if you score a goal in hockey, that was a nice shot. That means you were skillful and did well — you shot the puck nicely.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Morgan Rogers: Played Bukayo Saka through with a nice pass early on and hit the post twice.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Over the years, I watched them slowly make it nice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
“I hope you understand that life changing experiences can shift your perspective and that you’re able to extend a little more grace to others moving forward. Have a nice day!”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Over the years, Winfrey gave us many nice things.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
I should bring them a nice hostess gift; I should behave so charmingly that they later compliment me to my parents.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
If I want a really good steak, I’ll go to the Nice Guy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The actions along the Mediterranean coast to bar access to the harbours of Nice and Sete, and a depot in Frontignan, come as petrol prices at French pumps near an all-time high.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Effects were reported in Nice, Antibes, and Cannes, with disturbances observed in Antibes for about half an hour.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
Her “no Mr. Nice Guy” approach to enforcing the terms of a lease is also within her rights, her defenders say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
"And I thought I was a con artist. Nice try, kid. Nice try."
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
The draft guidance issued by health regulator NICE, external urges faster diagnosis along with better monitoring.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Appeared in the April 29, 2026, print edition as 'Notable & Quotable: NICE'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The UK's health guidelines for obsessive compulsive disorder are 20 years old - they are currently being reviewed by NICE.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2025
Male pattern baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia, is the most common type of hair loss in men which usually begins between the ages of 20-25 years, according to NICE.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2025
NICE, France.—Superbly situated on the shores of the Mediterranean is the City of Nice.
From Shepp's Photographs of the World by James W. Shepp
There was little exclusive about the space beyond nicer chairs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
“They always say LSU has more money, the nicer facilities, bigger fan base, bigger stadium,” Chambliss said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Because “lierre de Paris” sounds so much nicer than “overgrown American ivy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The veteran entertainer Christopher Biggins said Cricket was "unbelievably fantastic, I don't think I met a nicer man ever".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
I can help Mom and Sam by being nicer at home, but I can still be embarrassed about being poor.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
"Who would want to harm Brian? He was the nicest, kindest person you could ever imagine," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“The nicest guy in the world. I just want to be on his side.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula One and the nicest to drive,” says reigning world champion Lando Norris, “to probably the worst.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
She says her late husband was "probably the nicest guy that walked the face of the Earth".
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
It was the nicest one in the whole row.
From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
