nicety

American  

[nahy-si-tee] / ˈnaɪ sɪ ti /

noun

niceties plural

1. a delicate or fine point; punctilio.

   niceties of protocol.

2. a fine distinction; subtlety; detail.

   the niceties of the filigree work.

3. Usually niceties a refined, elegant, or choice feature, as of manner or living.

   working hard to acquire the niceties of life.

4. exactness or precision.

5. the quality of being nice; niceness.

6. delicacy of character, as of something requiring care or tact.

   a matter of considerable nicety.

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nicety British  

/ ˈnaɪsɪtɪ /

noun

1. a subtle point of delicacy or distinction

   a nicety of etiquette

2. (usually plural) a refinement or delicacy

   the niceties of first-class travel

3. subtlety, delicacy, or precision

4. excessive refinement; fastidiousness

5. with precision

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overnicety
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• niceties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nicety

1275–1325; Middle English: silliness, extravagance, cleverness < Old French niceté. See nice, -ty ²

Explanation

Clearly, you're interested in the nicety of a word's meaning if you're checking out this website. A nicety is a fine detail or shade of meaning that anything — not just a word — can possess. Even the word nicety has niceties. The emphasis on detail can also refer to a precision or accuracy of sorts; if someone has judged something "to a nicety," they've judged it exactly. Yet another common meaning is in the sense of a minor aspect of polite behavior. Washing your hands before dinner is a "social nicety." So is covering your mouth when you cough. Now where would we be without niceties?

Example Sentences

For my part Sir, I am pleased with the whole Piece, and think the Critics, in particular, must approve of it highly; As it is written up to the Strictest Nicety of Dramatic Rules.

From The Covent Garden Theatre, or Pasquin Turn'd Drawcansir by Macklin, Charles

The only Qualification to paint Manners and Customs, is a long Experience; and a Man must have examin'd the various Characters very closely, to be able to describe them to a Nicety.

From Prefaces to Fiction by Warburton, William

That Neatness of which the Dutch are so fond, is cultivated to the greatest Nicety in this Village; and the Amsterdammers themselves cannot but own and admire it.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels From Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

And if at any Time he supp'd abroad with her, she sent them thither some Nicety or other, desiring them to be merry together.

From Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. by Erasmus, Desiderius

So much for what Bentley calls Temple's "Nicety of Tast."

From Books and Bookmen by Lang, Andrew

Related Words

• nuance
• refinement
• rigor
• subtlety