Adjacent Words

Nice definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NICE, a. [G. To eat dainties or sweetmeats]
1. Properly, soft; whence, delicate; tender; dainty; sweet or very pleasant to the taste; as a nice bit; nice food.
2. Delicate; fine; applied to texture, composition or color; as cloth of a nice texture; nice tints of color.
3. Accurate; exact; precise; as nice proportions; nice symmetry; nice workmanship; nice rules.
4. Requiring scrupulous exactness; as a nice point.
5. Perceiving the smallest difference; distinguishing accurately and minutely by perception; as a person of nice taste; hence,
6. Perceiving accurately the smallest faults, errors or irregularities; distinguishing and judging with exactness; as a nice judge of a subject; nice discernment.
Our author happy in a judge so nice.
7. Over scrupulous or exact.
Curious, not knowing; not exact, but nice.
8. Delicate; scrupulously and minutely cautious.
The letter was not nice, but full of charge of dear import.
Dear love, continue nice and chaste.
9. Fastidious; squeamish.
And to taste, think not I shall be nice.
10. Delicate; easily injured.
How nice the reputation of the maid!
11. Refined; as nice and subtle happiness.
12. Having lucky hits. [Not used.]
13. Weak; foolish; effeminate.
14. Trivial; unimportant.
To make nice, to be scrupulous.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance; "what a nice fellow you are and we all thought you so nasty"- George Meredith; "nice manners"; "a nice dress"; "a nice face"; "a nice day"; "had a nice time at the party"; "the corn and tomatoes are nice today" [ant: awful, nasty]
2: socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous; "from a decent family"; "a nice girl" [syn: decent, nice]
3: done with delicacy and skill; "a nice bit of craft"; "a job requiring nice measurements with a micrometer"; "a nice shot" [syn: nice, skillful]
4: excessively fastidious and easily disgusted; "too nice about his food to take to camp cooking"; "so squeamish he would only touch the toilet handle with his elbow" [syn: dainty, nice, overnice, prissy, squeamish]
5: exhibiting courtesy and politeness; "a nice gesture" [syn: courteous, gracious, nice] n
1: a city in southeastern France on the Mediterranean; the leading resort on the French Riviera

Merriam Webster's

adjective (nicer; nicest) Etymology: Middle English, foolish, wanton, from Anglo-French, silly, simple, from Latin nescius ignorant, from nescire not to know — more at nescience Date: 14th century 1. obsolete a. wanton, dissolute b. coy, reticent 2. a. showing fastidious or finicky tastes ; particular <too nice a palate to enjoy junk food> b. exacting in requirements or standards ; punctilious <a nice code of honor> 3. possessing, marked by, or demanding great or excessive precision and delicacy <nice measurements> 4. obsolete trivial 5. a. pleasing, agreeable <a nice time> <a nice person> b. well-executed <nice shot> c. appropriate, fitting <not a nice word for a formal occasion> 6. a. socially acceptable ; well-bred <from a nice family> b. virtuous, respectable <was taught that nice girls don't do that> 7. polite, kind <that's nice of you to say> Synonyms: see correct • nice adverb • nicely adverb • niceness noun

Merriam Webster's

or ancient Nicaea geographical name city & port SE France on the Mediterranean population 345,674

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory. 2 (of a person) kind, good-natured. 3 iron. bad or awkward (a nice mess you've made). 4 a fine or subtle (a nice distinction). b requiring careful thought or attention (a nice problem). 5 fastidious; delicately sensitive. 6 punctilious, scrupulous (were not too nice about their methods). 7 (foll. by an adj., often with and) satisfactory or adequate in terms of the quality described (a nice long time; nice and warm). Phrases and idioms: nice work a task well done. Derivatives: nicely adv. niceness n. nicish adj. (also niceish). Etymology: ME, = stupid, wanton f. OF, = silly, simple f. L nescius ignorant (as nescience: see NESCIENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nice Nice, a. [Compar. Nicer; superl. Nicest.] [OE., foolish, fr. OF. nice ignorant, fool, fr. L. nescius ignorant; ne not + scius knowing, scire to know. perhaps influenced by E. nesh delicate, soft. See No, and Science.] 1. Foolish; silly; simple; ignorant; also, weak; effeminate. [Obs.] --Gower. But say that we ben wise and nothing nice. --Chaucer. 2. Of trifling moment; nimportant; trivial. [Obs.] The letter was not nice, but full of charge Of dear import. --Shak. 3. Overscrupulous or exacting; hard to please or satisfy; fastidious in small matters. Curious not knowing, not exact but nice. --Pope. And to taste Think not I shall be nice. --Milton. 4. Delicate; refined; dainty; pure. Dear love, continue nice and chaste. --Donne. A nice and subtile happiness. --Milton. 5. Apprehending slight differences or delicate distinctions; distinguishing accurately or minutely; carefully discriminating; as, a nice taste or judgment. ``Our author happy in a judge so nice.'' --Pope. ``Nice verbal criticism.'' --Coleridge. 6. Done or made with careful labor; suited to excite admiration on account of exactness; evidencing great skill; exact; fine; finished; as, nice proportions, nice workmanship, a nice application; exactly or fastidiously discriminated; requiring close discrimination; as, a nice point of law, a nice distinction in philosophy. The difference is too nice Where ends the virtue, or begins the vice. --Pope. 7. Pleasing; agreeable; gratifying; delightful; good; as, a nice party; a nice excursion; a nice person; a nice day; a nice sauce, etc. [Loosely & Colloquially] To make nice of, to be scrupulous about. [Obs.] --Shak. Syn: Dainty; delicate; exquisite; fine; accurate; exact; correct; precise; particular; scrupulous; punctilious; fastidious; squeamish; finical; effeminate; silly.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(nicer, nicest) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you say that something is nice, you mean that you find it attractive, pleasant, or enjoyable. I think silk ties can be quite nice... It's nice to be here together again... We had a nice meal with a bottle of champagne. ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf • nicely He's just written a book, nicely illustrated and not too technical... ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed/adj 2. If you say that it is nice of someone to say or do something, you are saying that they are being kind and thoughtful. This is often used as a way of thanking someone. It's awfully nice of you to come all this way to see me... 'How are your boys?'—'How nice of you to ask.'... = kind ADJ: it v-link ADJ of n to-inf, v-link ADJ of n 3. If you say that someone is nice, you mean that you like them because they are friendly and pleasant. He was a nice fellow, very quiet and courteous. ? unpleasant ADJ • niceness Mr Pearce was rather bowled over by his niceness, his concern and his ordinariness. 4. If you are nice to people, you are friendly, pleasant, or polite towards them. She met Mr and Mrs Ricciardi, who were very nice to her. ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ to n • nicely He treated you very nicely and acted like a decent guy. ADV: ADV after v 5. When the weather is nice, it is warm and pleasant. He nodded to us and said, 'Nice weather we're having.' ADJ 6. You can use nice to emphasize a particular quality that you like. With a nice dark colour, the wine is medium to full bodied... Add the oats to thicken the mixture and stir until it is nice and creamy... ADJ: ADJ adj n, v-link ADJ and adj, ADJ and adv after v [emphasis] 7. A nice point or distinction is very clear, precise, and based on good reasoning. (FORMAL) Those are nice academic arguments, but what about the immediate future? ADJ • nicely I think this puts the problem very nicely. ADV: ADV after v 8. You can use nice when you are greeting people. For example, you can say 'Nice to meet you', 'Nice to have met you', or 'Nice to see you'. Good morning. Nice to meet you and thanks for being with us this weekend... 'It's so nice to see you,' said Charles. ADJ: it v-link ADJ to-inf [formulae] 9. see also nicely

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Exact, accurate, precise, exquisite, correct, critical, definite, strict, rigorous. 2. Fastidious, dainty, squeamish, punctilious, finical, difficult, over-scrupulous, exacting, hard to please, very particular. 3. Delicate, scrupulous, cautious. 4. Delicate, tender. 5. Discerning, discriminating, particular, scrupulous, precise. 6. Neat, tidy, trim. 7. Subtile, fine, refined, minute. 8. Delicate, dainty, luscious, soft, tender, savory, delicious, palatable. 9. (Colloq.) Pleasant, agreeable, delightful, good.

Moby Thesaurus

Christian, Christlike, Christly, according to Hoyle, accurate, acute, advantageous, advertent, affable, affectionate, agog, agreeable, agreeably, alert, all ears, all eyes, ambrosial, amiable, amicable, appreciative, appropriate, assiduous, attentive, attractive, auspicious, aware, becoming, befitting, beneficial, benevolent, benign, benignant, blissful, bon, bonny, braw, brotherly, bueno, capital, careful, charming, cheerful, choicy, choosy, civilized, close, cogent, comfortably, commendable, compassionate, compatible, complaisant, complex, complicated, concentrated, condign, congenial, conscientious, conscious, constant, cordial, correct, courteous, critical, cultivated, cultured, dainty, dangerous, decent, decorous, delectable, delicat, delicate, delicious, delightful, delightfully, demanding, desirable, detailed, differential, diligent, direct, discerning, discriminate, discriminating, discriminative, distinctive, distinguishing, due, dulcet, earnest, elegant, en rapport, enjoyable, enjoyably, estimable, even, exact, exacting, excellent, exigent, expedient, express, exquisite, fair, fair and pleasant, faithful, famous, fastidious, faultless, favorable, felicific, felicitous, fine, finespun, finical, finicking, finicky, fit, fitting, flawless, fraternal, friendly, full, fussy, genial, gentlemanly, good, good to eat, good-tasting, goodly, graceful, gracile, gracious, grand, grateful, gratifying, gratifyingly, gustable, gusty, hair-splitting, hairline, hairsplitting, hairy, harmonious, healthy, heart-warming, heedful, helpful, honeyed, human, humane, inerrable, inerrant, infallible, intense, intent, intentive, intricate, judicious, juicy, keen, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindly-disposed, kosher, ladylike, laudable, likable, likeable, loving, luscious, lush, mathematical, mellifluous, mellow, meticulous, micrometrically precise, microscopic, mindful, minute, narrow, neat, nectareous, nectarous, niggling, noble, normal, normative, observant, observing, of gourmet quality, old-maidish, old-womanish, on the ball, on the job, open-eared, open-eyed, openmouthed, outgoing, overconscientious, overparticular, overscrupulous, palatable, particular, penetrating, perceptive, perilous, pernickety, persnickety, picayune, picky, pinpoint, pleasant, pleasing, pleasingly, pleasurable, pleasure-giving, pleasureful, polished, polite, precarious, precious, precise, precisianistic, precisionistic, profitable, proper, punctilious, punctual, queasy, rare, refined, regal, regardful, religious, religiously exact, rewarding, right, right and proper, righteous, rightful, rigid, rigorous, royal, sage, sapid, sapient, satisfactory, satisfying, satisfyingly, savorous, savory, scientific, scientifically exact, scrumptious, scrupulous, scrutinizing, seemly, selective, sensitive, severe, sharp, skillful, slight, small, softhearted, sophisticated, sound, special, specific, splendid, square, squeamish, strict, stringent, subtle, succulent, suitable, superb, superior, sweet, sympathetic, sympathizing, tactful, tasty, tender, tender-conscienced, tenderhearted, ticklish, tidy, toothsome, trim, undeviating, unerring, useful, valid, very good, virtuous, warm, warm-hearted, warmhearted, watchful, welcome, winsome, wise, worthwhile, worthy, yummy