nicety
a delicate or fine point; punctilio: niceties of protocol.
a fine distinction; subtlety; detail: the niceties of the filigree work.
Usually niceties . a refined, elegant, or choice feature, as of manner or living: working hard to acquire the niceties of life.
exactness or precision.
the quality of being nice; niceness.
delicacy of character, as of something requiring care or tact: a matter of considerable nicety.
Origin of nicety
1Other words from nicety
- o·ver·ni·ce·ty, noun, plural o·ver·ni·ce·ties.
Words that may be confused with nicety
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use nicety in a sentence
But an absence of niceties nor an unwillingness to conform is not a legitimate cause for impeachment.
The University of Texas’s Machiavellian War on Its Regent | David Davis | October 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat said, there are many legal niceties and mechanical details to learn.
Still, all these niceties logged, there is no getting away from the crazy coaches and poor kids.
For all of his theoretical warmth and rhetorical niceties, Burke was not just a conservative.
We Are Radicals at Heart: A New History Gets America Wrong | Harvey J. Kaye | December 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWho has time to worry about complying with all those legal niceties?
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Scandal Spills Over to Ken Cuccinelli | Michelle Cottle | July 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is only the habit of speaking, the idioms and niceties, which cannot be acquired except by converse with a native.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness | Florence HartleyMy action may sound contemptible; but a woman in love does not stop to weigh niceties of behavior.
The Terms of Surrender | Louis TracyMen had to receive the very rudiments of culture before they could appreciate its niceties.
He early qualified himself as a translator by careful attention to philological niceties.
Chapters on Jewish Literature | Israel AbrahamsHe did not, however, confine himself to rouge et noir, but soon learned all the niceties of that scientific game cart.
Bentley's Miscellany, Volume II | Various
British Dictionary definitions for nicety
/ (ˈnaɪsɪtɪ) /
a subtle point of delicacy or distinction: a nicety of etiquette
(usually plural) a refinement or delicacy: the niceties of first-class travel
subtlety, delicacy, or precision
excessive refinement; fastidiousness
to a nicety with precision
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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