nice

¹

[nahys]

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.

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 /

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

nice

²

/ 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

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.

Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera.

Other Word Forms

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

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. nice and, sufficiently.

   It's nice and warm in here.

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

Example Sentences

Those who have met the president insist he’s a nice guy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We'd been told there were rooms which were quite cheap at 25 Cromwell Street and they were known to be a friendly, helpful and very nice couple…"

Read more on BBC

That can include an accent wall, a unique backsplash, nice lighting, or other small touches that make a home stand out to buyers.

Read more on Barron's

This being the Dodgers first postseason meeting with Springer since that travesty, it would be a nice time to show him just how furious.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"When you have a kid you're like, it would have been nice to have those photos now - to save them for her."

Read more on BBC