— nicely , adv. — niceness , n.
/nuys/ , adj., nicer, nicest .
1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit.
2. amiably pleasant; kind: They are always nice to strangers.
3. characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy: nice workmanship; a nice shot; a nice handling of a crisis.
4. showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as instruments: a job that requires nice measurements.
5. minute, fine, or subtle: a nice distinction.
6. having or showing delicate, accurate perception: a nice sense of color.
7. refined in manners, language, etc.: Nice people wouldn't do such things.
8. virtuous; respectable; decorous: a nice girl.
9. suitable or proper: That was not a nice remark.
10. carefully neat in dress, habits, etc.
11. (esp. of food) dainty or delicate.
12. having fastidious, finicky, or fussy tastes: They're much too nice in their dining habits to enjoy an outdoor barbecue.
13. Obs. coy, shy, or reluctant.
14. Obs. unimportant; trivial.
15. Obs. wanton.
16. make nice , to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.
17. nice and , sufficiently: It's nice and warm in here.
[ 1250-1300; ME: foolish, stupid nescius ignorant, incapable, equiv. to ne- negative prefix + sci- (s. of scire to know; see SCIENCE) + -us adj. suffix ]
Syn. 2. friendly. 3. delicate, exact, exacting, critical, scrupulous, discriminating, discerning, particular. 7. polite. 10, 12 . finical.
Ant. 1. unpleasant. 2. unkind. 3. careless. 9. improper.
Usage . The semantic history of NICE is quite varied, as the etymology and the obsolete senses attest, and any attempt to insist on only one of its present senses as correct will not be in keeping with the facts of actual usage. If any criticism is valid, it might be that the word is used too often and has become a cliché lacking the qualities of precision and intensity that are embodied in many of its synonyms.