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
/ 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
2
British
/ nis /
noun
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:
In much of the Midwest and South, $110,000 buys a nice home, but in the New York, Boston, California or Seattle areas, median prices can top $800,000, depending on the neighborhood.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Kiran Ramineni, who lives next door, described Art of Play as a "very nice small mom and pop store" and said he had seen flocks of journalists there in recent days.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
It’s nice that you’re saying exactly what I feel when I’m writing it, so I’m glad it comes across.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Jeeves was a nice gentleman who answered our questions for decades.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Absolutely. We’ll go somewhere nice to celebrate your graduation. Anywhere you like.”
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Two of the masterpieces stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a suburb of Nice, have yet to be recovered.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Nice place, met a lot of lovely people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Nice try, but Mr. Bonta’s career may be unsalvageable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 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
Nice use of the word, Holly, Ms. Laverne said.
From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
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
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
"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
One is an unsubtle effort to make us nicer and more open-minded toward this tech.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
The trip—like others they’ve treated their grandkids to—was nicer than the ones the Lenzas could take their three daughters on when they were growing up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
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
"It was either fast food restaurants or three barbers in a row, we wanted a nicer area."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
“Well, he obviously has a nicer grandmother than you do. College can wait.”
From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty
"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
Brandreth described Dame Penelope as one of the nicest and kindest people.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 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
Mama hurried down the stair steps, wearing a bright smile and carrying her nicest petticoats and nightgowns to hang out for airing.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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