pleas ‧ ant S3 W3 /ˈplez ə nt/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ pleasant ≠ ↑ unpleasant , ↑ pleased ≠ ↑ displeased , ↑ pleasing ≠ ↑ displeasing , ↑ pleasurable ; adverb : ↑ pleasantly ≠ ↑ unpleasantly , ↑ pleasingly , ↑ pleasurably ; noun : ↑ pleasantry , ↑ pleasure ≠ ↑ displeasure ; verb : ↑ please ≠ ↑ displease ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: plaisant , from plaisir ; ⇨ ↑ please 2 ]
1 . enjoyable or attractive and making you feel happy SYN nice ⇨ pleasure :
It had been a pleasant evening.
the pleasant climate of Southern California
The restaurant was large and pleasant.
Kate! What a pleasant surprise!
it is pleasant to do something
It was pleasant to sit in a sidewalk cafe and watch people pass.
2 . friendly, polite, and easy to talk to:
Nick seemed very pleasant on the phone.
a pleasant-looking woman
pleasant to
He’s always been very pleasant to me.
—pleasantly adverb :
He smiled pleasantly.
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REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say something or someone is nice rather than pleasant :
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It was a really nice day.
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They were all very nice to me.
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THESAURUS
■ person
▪ nice especially spoken friendly, kind, or polite. In written and formal English, it is better to use a more specific and interesting adjective than nice :
I like Clare – she’s really nice.
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It was nice of them to offer to help.
▪ pleasant friendly, polite, and easy to talk to – used especially about someone that you do not know very well:
I only met her once or twice but she seemed pleasant.
▪ sweet very kind and gentle:
Kylie’s a very caring, sweet person.
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It was sweet of you to send me a card.
▪ charming behaving in a polite and friendly way, which makes people like you and want to do things for you:
The salesman was very charming.
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a charming hostess
▪ engaging interesting or amusing in a way that makes people like you – a rather formal word:
She can be very engaging.
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an engaging smile
▪ likeable easy to like and seeming nice and friendly:
Bobby was a likeable kid with an angelic face.
▪ good-natured having a nice kind character and not getting angry easily:
Everyone likes Mike because he’s always so good-natured.
▪ great informal used about someone who you like and admire a lot:
He’s a great guy!
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Sue’s boyfriend is really great.
▪ lovely especially British English informal very nice, kind, and friendly:
All the people I met on the course were lovely.
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a lovely man