/ naɪs; NAmE / adjective
( nicer , nicest )
PLEASANT / ATTRACTIVE
1.
nice (to do sth) | nice (doing sth) | nice (that ... ) pleasant, enjoyable or attractive :
a nice day / smile / place
nice weather
Did you have a nice time ?
You look very nice.
'Do you want to come, too?' 'Yes, that would be nice .'
The nicest thing about her is that she never criticizes us.
Nice to meet you! (= a friendly greeting when you meet sb for the first time)
It's been nice meeting you .
It's nice that you can come with us.
It would be nice if he moved to London.
It's nice to know that somebody appreciates what I do.
We all had the flu last week—it wasn't very nice.
2.
used before adjectives or adverbs to emphasize how pleasant sth is :
a nice hot bath
a nice long walk
It was nice and warm yesterday.
Everyone arrived nice and early.
HELP NOTE : Nice and with another adjective cannot be used before a noun: a nice and quiet place .
KIND / FRIENDLY
3.
nice (to sb) | nice of sb (to do sth) | nice (about sth) kind; friendly :
Our new neighbours are very nice.
He's a really nice guy.
Be nice to me. I'm not feeling well.
It was nice of them to invite us.
I complained to the manager and he was very nice about it.
I asked him in the nicest possible way to put his cigarette out.
OPP nasty
NOT NICE
4.
( ironic ) bad or unpleasant :
That's a nice thing to say!
That's a nice way to speak to your mother!
SMALL DETAILS
5.
( formal ) involving a very small detail or difference
SYN subtle :
a nice point of law (= one that is difficult to decide)
► nice·ness noun [ U ]:
In some professions, niceness does not get you very far.
•
IDIOMS
- as nice as pie
- have a nice day!
- nice one!
- nice work!
- nice work if you can get it
—more at Mr
••
VOCABULARY BUILDING
nice and very nice
Instead of saying that something is nice or very nice , try to use more precise and interesting adjectives to describe things:
pleasant / perfect / beautiful weather
a cosy /a comfortable /an attractive room
a pleasant /an interesting /an enjoyable experience
expensive / fashionable / smart clothes
a kind /a charming /an interesting man
The party was fun .
In conversation you can also use great , wonderful , lovely and (in BrE ) brilliant :
The party was great.
•
We had a brilliant weekend.
· note at good
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense stupid ): from Old French , from Latin nescius ignorant, from nescire not know. Other early senses included coy, reserved , giving rise to fastidious, scrupulous : this led both to the sense fine, subtle (regarded by some as the “correct” sense), and to the main current senses.