I. ˈnīs adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, foolish, wanton, from Old French, simpleminded, stupid, from Latin nescius ignorant, not knowing, from nescire not to know — more at nescience
1. obsolete
a. : lewd , wanton , dissolute
b. : coy , modest , diffident , reticent
2.
a. : showing fastidious, particular, or finical tastes
too nice about his food to like camp cooking
an animal nice about its diet
b. : satisfying a dainty palate : pleasing delicate tastes
the nice dishes at the banquet
3. : marked by refinement and culture, refined tastes, or wise discrimination
the popular ear, none too nice to distinguish between sense and fustian — V.L.Parrington
4. : showing, marked by, or requiring meticulous choice, tactful handling, careful consideration, or precise and scrupulous conduct
a diplomatic mission requiring nice judgment
the highest standards which a man of … the nicest sense of honor might impose — B.N.Cardozo
5. : requiring, marked by, or capable of delicate discrimination, precision, closely accurate measurement, subtle analysis, or minute treatment
the balance was nice enough … to make both parties appeal for popular support — G.G.Coulton
a nice question of ethics
nice measurements with a micrometer
6. obsolete
a. : lacking vigor, strength, or endurance
b. : lacking significance : trivial
the letter was not nice but full of charge — Shakespeare
7. : pleasant and satisfying: as
a. : complaisant , affable , agreeable , considerate
the duty of being nice to one's mother-in-law — F.D.Roosevelt
what a nice fellow you are, and we all thought you so nasty — George Meredith
b. : enjoyable , attractive , pleasing , delightful
a nice time at the party
nice and warm by the fire
we have four nice bedrooms upstairs to make them comfortable — Willa Cather
c. : very good : well-executed : well-conducted : outstanding
a nice bit of satire
a nice shot bringing down the bird
d. : well-intentioned : benign
nice people support charities
e. : mild , clement , pleasing
the nice weather of late spring
the nice old days of the past
f. : well or appropriately dressed : neat , personable , comely
always a nice dresser
a nice -looking American businessman with a quiet calm manner and a friendly face — Dorothy C. Fisher
g. : fitting , appropriate , suitable
the nice clothes she wears
not a nice word for use in church
h. — used with and as an intensive
blankets are nice and dry
this soup is nice and hot
8. : most inappropriate : unpleasant , unattractive : mean , treacherous — used ironically
a chronic alcoholic is certainly a nice one to talk about temperance
a nice friend, who would have me … cover myself with eternal infamy — J.A.Froude
got himself in a nice fix
9. : marked by conformity to convention: as
a. : given to accustomed practices : established in conventional normal ways of life : not unusual, bizarre, wild, morbid, wayward
unpopular with the nicer people of the town
b. : not marked by sexual license : virtuous , chaste
c. : not profane, indecent, or obscene : proper
Synonyms:
dainty , fastidious , finical , particular , fussy , squeamish , pernickety : nice implies fine discrimination in perception and evaluation
a nice taste in literature — Compton Mackenzie
nice may indicate a tender or squeamish disinclination to countenance the questionable or raw
boycotted by the respectables, who were too nice to accept socially those whose business they tolerated — W.A.White
dainty may describe a tendency to pick and choose with delicate sensibility and, sometimes, to reject disdainfully
dainty feeders who expect perfection — A.W.Long
the tough jargon of the East Side no less than the dainty discourse of the Four Hundred — C.H.Grandgent
fastidious implies a meticulously careful judgment, often with disdainful rejection of what does not meet with very high standards occasionally set capriciously
a fastidious critic both of the written and the spoken word, hating anything which savored of the fantastic or the turgid — John Buchan
the fastidious author could never satisfy himself, and the result is a production more remarkable for high polish than warmth of poetic feeling — Richard Garnett †1906
the fastidious lady whom it was most difficult to please — L.P.Smith
finical describes an affected, capricious fastidiousness that sometimes seems composed partly of a determination to be displeased or dissatisfied
I am possibly a trifle overscrupulous about the conventions, but you must contrive to forgive a finical old friend — Elinor Wylie
particular may indicate a demand that all details satisfy an exacting standard
every year it used to get a nice coat of paint — Papa was very particular about the paint — Lillian Hellman
they wear gloves, hats and stockings, and are usually particular about grooming because they were brought up in the stricter times — Agnes M. Miall
fussy may blend the suggestions of finical and particular with a hint of querulousness
a busy, fussy sort of man, much concerned with regulating everything — A.M.Young
so fussy about the punctilious observance of orders that almost any brakeman would take a chance once in a while, from natural perversity — Willa Cather
squeamish describes a sensitive or prudish readiness to be nauseated, disgusted, or antagonized by whatever does not satisfy one's delicate standards or preferences
his conditioning had made him not so much pitiful as profoundly squeamish. The mere suggestion of illness or wounds was to him not only horrifying, but even repulsive and rather disgusting — Aldous Huxley
not squeamish about the soft fleshy mud creeping round his ankles, or about the things which slid from under his feet — Audrey Barker
pernickety is deprecatory in indicating exasperating crusty fussiness
the grammarian, the purist, the pernickety stickler for trifles — Brander Matthews
Synonym: see in addition correct , decorous .
II. adverb
: nicely
III. ˈnēs adjective
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: from Nice, seaport of France
: of or from the city of Nice, France : of the kind or style prevalent in Nice