nice

Adjective

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

1. (chiefly informal) Pleasant, satisfactory. [from 18th c.]
   • 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909 (11th printing), →OCLC:

     "It's a lot nicer than going round by the road; that is so dusty and hot," said Diana practically, peeping into her dinner basket and mentally calculating if the three juicy, toothsome, raspberry tarts reposing there were divided among ten girls, how many bites each girl would have.

   • 1998, “Who Let the Dogs Out?”, performed by Baha Men:

     When the party was nice, the party was jumpin' (Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo)

   • 2008 April 19, Rachel Cooke, quoting David Lodge, “Nice work”, in The Observer‎, →ISSN:

     What's difficult is when you think someone is saying something nice about you, but you're not quite sure.

2. (chiefly informal) Of a person: friendly, attractive. [from 18th c.]
   • 2016 February 13, Gene Lyons, anonymous quotee, “Understanding the 'Bernie Bros'”, in The Daily Journal‎, volume 83, number 37, page A11:

     Yes, please tell me how Shillary is the nicest corporate oligarchical servant, and how she will lovingly sell out the people who voted for her to her banker masters, with a twinkle in her fellating eye.

3. Respectable; virtuous. [from 18th c.]

   What is a nice person like you doing in a place like this?

   • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 14:

     She was so nice, in fact, that she wouldn't let me put my hand underneath or even on top of her bra, and so I finished with her, although obviously I didn't tell her why.

4. (with and, chiefly informal) Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite. [from 18th c.]

   The soup is nice and hot.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.

5. (chiefly informal) Giving a favorable review or having a favorable impression.

   For Candy Crush Saga, the critics were far nicer than the audience (7.9/10 vs. 3.2/10).

6. (chiefly informal) Showing refinement or delicacy, proper, seemly

   a nice way of putting it

7. (obsolete) Silly, ignorant; foolish. [14th–17th c.]
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice
     To change true rules for odd inventions.

8. (now rare) Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy. [from 14th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 2, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     There is nothing he seemed to be more carefull of than of his honesty, and observe a kinde of decencie of his person, and orderly decorum in his habits, were it on foot or on horsebacke. He was exceeding nice in performing his word or promise.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     Mr Blifil, I am confident, understands himself better than to think of seeing my niece any more this morning, after what hath happened. Women are of a nice contexture; and our spirits, when disordered, are not to be recomposed in a moment.

   • 1999, Sigmund Freud, translated by Joyce Crick, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford, published 2008, page 83:

     But if I dispense with the dreams of neurotics, my main material, I cannot be too nice [translating wählerisch] in my dealings with the remainder.

9. (dated) Having particular tastes; fussy, fastidious. [from 14th c.]
   • 1898, Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller, “cís”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 156:

     Choice, nice in eating; fastidiosus in edendo.

10. (obsolete) Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict. [16th–19th c.]
    • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter 14, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:

      “Well, my dear,” he deliberately began, “considering we never saw her before, she seems a very pretty sort of young lady; and I dare say she was very much pleased with you. She speaks a little too quick. A little quickness of voice there is which rather hurts the ear. But I believe I am nice; I do not like strange voices; and nobody speaks like you and poor Miss Taylor. ..."

    • 1818, Jane Austen, chapter 16, in Persuasion:

      "Good company requires only birth, education and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice. Birth and good manners are essential."

11. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle. [from 16th c.]
    • 1914, Saki, Laura:

      "It's her own funeral, you know," said Sir Lulworth; "it's a nice point in etiquette how far one ought to show respect to one's own mortal remains."

    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 131:

      It would be a nice theological point to try and establish whether Ophis is Moslem or gnostic.

    • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 242:

      Why it should have attained such longevity is a nice question.

12. (obsolete) Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
13. (obsolete) Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky. [16th–19th c.]
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

      [W]ere it good / To ſet the exact wealth of al our ſtates / Al at one caſt? to ſet ſo rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre?

      Is it good / To bet all of our wealth / On one throw of the dice? To place so high a stake / On the risky hazard of one doubtful hour?

    • 1822 July 28, T. Creevey, Reminiscences:

      It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.

Adverb

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

1. (colloquial) Nicely.

   Children, play nice.

   He dresses real nice.

   • 2002, Gina Riley, Jane Turner, That's Unusual: Scripts from Kath and Kim, Series 2, page 245:

     This riesling's going down nice.

Interjection

nice!

1. Used to signify a job well done.

   Nice! I couldn't have done better.

2. Used to signify approval.

   Is that your new car? Nice!

Noun

nice (uncountable)

1. niceness.
   • 2000, Dana Stabenow, Midnight Come Again, →ISBN, page 111:

     She had refused as kindly as she know how, using up as much nice as she had energy for because she was glad of his company when three o'clock rolled around and she started thinking about September.

   • 2013, Todd Whitaker, What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most, →ISBN:

     We could debate forever about whether we have enough of one or too much of another. But I know one thing for sure: We never have too much nice.

   • 2014, Jean Illsley Clarke, Connie Dawson, David Bredehoft, How Much Is Too Much?, →ISBN:

     It is the absence of rules and too much nice that are more likely to produce terror.

Verb

nice (third-person singular simple present nices, present participle nicing, simple past and past participle niced)

1. (transitive, computing, Unix) To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.

Declension

Derived terms

• nicet

Declension

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [niˈd͡ʒe]

Adjective

nice

1. many

Adverb

nice

1. (dialectal or poetic) how