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
/ nis /
noun
nice
2
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
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:
"We get to sleep under a duvet here, it is quite nice," Caroline adds.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Young people haven’t necessarily stopped wanting nice things.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
It isn’t nice to kick people when they’re down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
“It’s nice to feel the progress on the pitching side,” Ohtani said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
“It’s nice to meet you, Paul. I’m Lala.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Unions said about half of the company's 900 French-based cabin crew would join the strike, which would affect about half of the flights out of two Paris airports, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
French side Nice have released this classic home shirt and it is, dare we say, rather nice.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
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
“A hairpin. Nice try. Anything else I can help you with? Maybe show you where we hide the family valuables?”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
"This is a genuinely exciting recommendation," says Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation at NICE.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Appeared in the April 29, 2026, print edition as 'Notable & Quotable: NICE'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The daily pill Veoza was approved in 2023 - but has only now been recommended for treating moderate to severe symptoms of menopausal hot flushes and night sweats on the NHS, by NICE.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
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
NICE, France.—Superbly situated on the shores of the Mediterranean is the City of Nice.
From Shepp's Photographs of the World by James W. Shepp
“They start idealizing their old culture; suddenly things seem much nicer than when they lived at home,” she said.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
"The Tartan Army were great - as were the Haiti fans - but it would just have been nicer if it had been organised a bit differently," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
We would have a much nicer, larger home for our family.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
A significant part of its business is built around buyers looking to upgrade to nicer homes, rather than entry-level buyers who are struggling the most.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
She might be getting nicer because of Rocket ReStore, but I bet she’ll be back to her normal self after our last session, which is later today.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
Brandreth described Dame Penelope as one of the nicest and kindest people.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“The nicest guy in the world. I just want to be on his side.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
And even the nicest hotels can be a deal in the offseason.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
"He's very calm, very humble, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet," he said.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
The nicest part is being able to write down all my thoughts and feelings; otherwise, I’d absolutely suffocate.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
