Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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)

---

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

---

Nice Cultural  

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.

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

One person in Bude said: "It's nice being involved in this community experience"

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Rather than spend a week in a nice hotel in Europe, they book an Airbnb in a more remote area to immerse themselves in a country and culture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Emerson opposed “the whole institution of property,” though he owned a very nice house, known locally as Coolidge Castle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

“I’ve always thought every yard deserves a nice piece of garden art,” Gatwood told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

A nice distraction from all the problems of real life.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

After spending five-and-a-half weeks in Nice, France, last summer, Maddy Renne dropped three dress sizes, going from an eight to a two.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

“Novo Nordisk has been trying for decades to be Mr. Nice Guy,” said Per Hansen, an economist with Nordnet Bank in Copenhagen.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Nice said it welcomed the findings and recognised the potential of such multifactorial risk assessment tools but said the current evidence did not warrant a change to its breast cancer guidelines.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The couple was active in charities for decades and this year was given the San Diego Nice Guy of the Year Award.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

“This looks excellent, Jessica. Nice vascular flow, good color...you’re already healing beautifully.”

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

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

On Friday the DoH said that NICE, a non-departmental public body tasked with producing guidance on the prevention and treatment of ill-health, "published guidance recommending cabotegravir for preventing HIV-1 in adults and young people".

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 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

"Don't—don't you think it sounds kind of—well, kind of NICE, Peter?" she asked in a bashful sort of way.

From Mrs. Peter Rabbit by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

Other than the physicality of it, I do think the fabric selection in New York is nicer, but I wouldn’t be able to do it to the scale I do here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 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

England boss Thomas Tuchel dismissed concerns over his side's treatment in Mexico, saying it had been "nicer" than he expected and that home fans were "friendly and respectful".

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

Hinckley visits at least once a year, but he doesn’t gamble and spends his time at nicer properties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

“Daddy,” she sobbed, “we c-could of been nicer to that p-poor boy....”

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Graham broke with Trump, however, after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden – a former Senate friend of Graham's who he once called "the nicest person I've ever met in politics".

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

And even the nicest hotels can be a deal in the offseason.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

The polite adieu was apropos for a player some fans considered the show’s nicest ever.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

McLaren's Lando Norris, the world champion, said after qualifying sixth in Melbourne: "We've come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst."

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026

Cat turned, expecting to see her brother—but instead, it was Poppy Zhang, the nicest girl in fifth grade.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn