nice
[ nahys ]
/ naɪs /
adjective, nic·er, nic·est.
Words nearby nice
Idioms for nice
make nice, to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.
nice and, sufficiently: It's nice and warm in here.
Origin of nice
1250–1300; Middle English: foolish, stupid < Old French: silly, simple < Latin nescius ignorant, incapable, equivalent to ne- negative prefix + sci- (stem of scīre to know; see science) + -us adj. suffix
OTHER WORDS FROM nice
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH nice
nice niceness nicetynice Nicegneiss nice (see usage note at the current entry)usage note for nice
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Examples from the Web for nicely
British Dictionary definitions for nicely (1 of 3)
nice
/ (naɪs) /
adjective
Derived forms of nice
nicely, adverbniceness, nounnicish, adjectiveWord Origin for nice
C13 (originally: foolish): from Old French nice simple, silly, from Latin nescius ignorant, from nescīre to be ignorant; see nescience
British Dictionary definitions for nicely (2 of 3)
Nice
/ (French nis) /
noun
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)
British Dictionary definitions for nicely (3 of 3)
NICE
/ (naɪs) /
n acronym for
(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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Cultural definitions for nicely
notes for Nice
Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.