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• nice
  nice

  adjective

  pleasing; agreeable; delightful.
• Nice
  Nice

  noun

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

  acronym

  (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

• nicer,
  comparative
• nicest
  superlative

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  

/ 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 ² 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 ³ 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 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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• nicer
  comparative
• nicest
  superlative

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

See Examples For:

nice Nice NICE nicer nicest

Reaves’ moment came late in the second quarter when he had a nice hesitation move that froze Emanuel Sharp, allowing him to waltz along the baseline for a layup.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

"I like to see myself as like a nice person overall, but still, I wouldn't choose me."

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

The club does not really need vindication of their vision and long-term plan, but some silverware would be nice.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

And events like these aren’t just nice setups with cocktails; brands are trying to tell a deeper, more strategic story.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

“You’re right. Forget it. Have a nice summer.”

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Nice try, but Mr. Bonta’s career may be unsalvageable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Eric Ciotti, the Republicans mayor of Nice, said the parents of those found to have damaged school property should be made to pay for the repairs.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Nice showcase for Rolie’s organ work, though, on one of the last Journey singles he played on before leaving the band.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

The Nice project also includes public signs, evacuation exercises, and educational activities involving schools and Montpellier students.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

“Bring something for this old lady, hey? Nice stuff. Not the swill these buggers drink.”

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Appeared in the April 29, 2026, print edition as 'Notable & Quotable: NICE'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

NICE, which produces guidance for the NHS on how to give patients the best care, recommends a move away from a "one size fits all" approach and towards more personalised treatment.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2025

The guidance, from health assessment body NICE, warns weight management is a long-term journey, not a short-term fix.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025

The health watchdog, NICE, will then take stock of how the rollout has been going and decide if it is the right to time to offer it to more people with obesity.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2025

Now let us take "NICE Cakes" as the Subject of Proposition: that is, let us fix our thoughts on the LEFT-HAND half of the cupboard, where all the Cakes have attribute y, that is, "nice."

From The Game of Logic by Lewis Carroll

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

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

“They start idealizing their old culture; suddenly things seem much nicer than when they lived at home,” she said.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

“Your mom works so hard, and she never asks for anything in return. You guys need to start being nicer to her.”

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

"I love working in the transfer market. It's not a pressure, it's one of the nicest parts in my work, in my job," he explained.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

"He's very calm, very humble, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet," he said.

From BBC ● May 18, 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

His Clark Kent-esque transformation, from unimposing nice guy — “the nicest guy in the entire world,” Casparius said — to smirking menace whenever the day needs saving is the stuff of comic book legends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

It was the nicest one in the whole row.

From "We Were Here" by Matt De La Peña