nice

¹ American  

[nahys] / naɪs /

adjective

nicer, nicest

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.

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idioms

1. nice and,  sufficiently.

   It's nice and warm in here.

2. make nice,  to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.

Nice ² American  

[nees] / nis /

noun

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

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NICE ¹ British  

/ naɪs /

acronym

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

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Nice ² British  

/ 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)

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nice ³ British  

/ 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. pleasingly

   it's nice and cool

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Nice Cultural  

1. City in southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea.

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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

• nicely adverb
• niceness noun
• nicish adjective
• overnice adjective
• overnicely adverb
• overniceness noun
• unnice adjective
• unnicely adverb
• unniceness noun

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”; science ) + -us adjective suffix

Origin of Nice¹

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

Example Sentences

"Instead Luke Sheppard's overall show is a wholesome homage. Just nice songs and a decent ensemble held together by some brilliant writing. What more could you want?"

From BBC

There’s still a whole month for investors to make sure they’re on Santa’s nice list.

From Barron's

Ahead of its official release on Friday, Sutherland told BBC Radio York the thing he enjoyed most about the town was "the people", because they were "so nice and welcoming".

From BBC

Instead, he takes a nice big touch and it's just the calm nature in which he just clips it straight in from 47.4 yards.

From BBC

“There’s some dang nice cars driving around base,” the 29-year-old said.

From The Wall Street Journal