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). nice work a task well done. nicely adv. niceness n. nicish adj. (also niceish).
[ ME, = stupid, wanton f. OF, = silly, simple f. L nescius ignorant (as nescience: see NESCIENT) ]