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:
“It’s nice to have my guy back,” Stroud said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
In 2008, John Swansburg argued that we should ditch this particular festivity: “Seems like a nice idea, the birthday dinner. It is not. It is a tedious, wretched affair.”
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
“The nano display, that’s really going to differentiate it, because it gives it a nice feel when you’re playing with the device.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
It’s just nice to remember too that at one point, he was probably pissing a lot of people off and breaking a lot of rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
“You guys are a really nice family,” I say, mostly to myself.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The previous two editions of EVO France have taken place in the French Mediterranean city of Nice.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
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 try, but Mr. Bonta’s career may be unsalvageable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Nice of him to acknowledge the table stakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
What if I do okay, live with the depression, get into College, do College, go to Grad School, get the Job, get the Money, get Kids and a Wife and a Nice Car?
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
Marie Anne Ledingham, consultant clinical advisor for women's and reproductive health at NICE, said recommending a "simple" annual review was an "important step".
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Appeared in the April 29, 2026, print edition as 'Notable & Quotable: NICE'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
NICE, which produces guidance for the NHS on how to give patients the best care, recommends a move away from a "one size fits all" approach and towards more personalised treatment.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2025
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
"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
“It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” said USA Cycling’s Quirk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Because “lierre de Paris” sounds so much nicer than “overgrown American ivy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
“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 supernatural world isn’t much nicer than the known world.”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Howe had made them a horrible team to play against, in the nicest possible way.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 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
The polite adieu was apropos for a player some fans considered the show’s nicest ever.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
She says her late husband was "probably the nicest guy that walked the face of the Earth".
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
One of the nicest boys in the class.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
