What does "nice" mean?
niceness.
Nice
/naɪs/ adj, adv, intj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: niceness.
- Grammar: nice is listed as adj, adv, intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: beautiful, according to hoyle, accurate, ace.
- Useful contrasts: awful, disgusting, distasteful.
- Usage evidence: "That's very nice of you," Willie answered.
How to use "nice"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "nice" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "nice" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "nice" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "nice" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "nice" is acting as adj, adv, intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "beautiful" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "nice", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 niceness. uncountable
"She had refused as kindly as she know how, using up as much nice as she had energy for because she was glad of his company when three o'clock rolled around and she started thinking about September."
Verb
- 1 To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority. Unix, transitive
Adjective
- 1 Pleasant, satisfactory. informal
"You weren’t nice to me this morning."
- 2 Of a person: friendly, attractive. informal
"Yes, please tell me how Shillary is the nicest corporate oligarchical servant, and how she will lovingly sell out the people who voted for her to her banker masters, with a twinkle in her fellating eye."
- 3 Respectable; virtuous.
"What is a nice person like you doing in a place like this?"
- 4 Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite. informal
"The soup is nice and hot."
- 5 Giving a favorable review or having a favorable impression. informal
"For Candy Crush Saga, the critics were far nicer than the audience (7.9/10 vs. 3.1/10)."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 Showing refinement or delicacy, proper, seemly informal
"a nice way of putting it"
- 7 Silly, ignorant; foolish. obsolete
"Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice To change true rules for odd inventions."
- 8 Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy. archaic
"There is nothing he seemed to be more carefull of than of his honesty, and observe a kinde of decencie of his person, and orderly decorum in his habits, were it on foot or on horsebacke. He was exceeding nice in performing his word or promise."
- 9 Having particular tastes; fussy, fastidious. dated
"Choice, nice in eating; fastidiosus in edendo."
- 10 Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict. obsolete
"“Well, my dear,” he deliberately began, “considering we never saw her before, she seems a very pretty sort of young lady; and I dare say she was very much pleased with you. She speaks a little too quick. A little quickness of voice there is which rather hurts the ear. But I believe I am nice; I do not like strange voices; and nobody speaks like you and poor Miss Taylor. ...""
- 11 Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle.
""It's her own funeral, you know," said Sir Lulworth; "it's a nice point in etiquette how far one ought to show respect to one's own mortal remains.""
- 12 Easily injured; delicate; dainty. obsolete
- 13 Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky. obsolete
"[W]ere it good / To ſet the exact wealth of al our ſtates / Al at one caſt? to ſet ſo rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre?"
Adjective
- 1 exhibiting courtesy and politeness wordnet
- 2 excessively fastidious and easily disgusted wordnet
- 3 pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance wordnet
- 4 done with delicacy and skill wordnet
- 5 socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Nicely. colloquial
"Children, play nice."
Intj
- 1 Used to signify a job well done.
"Nice! I couldn't have done better."
- 2 Used to signify approval.
"Is that your new car? Nice!"
Proper Noun
- 1 A coastal city, the capital of Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeast France.
"The Nice prosecutor’s office told CNN that an investigation has been opened into his death and an autopsy ordered. So far, authorities have not announced any charges related to Pormanove’s death."
- 2 Acronym of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. UK, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 3 A surname. (pronounced /ni:s/ or /naɪs/)
- 4 A census-designated place in Lake County, California, United States.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
""That's very nice of you," Willie answered."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "nice"?
Common synonyms include: beautiful, according to hoyle, accurate, ace, acute, advantageous.
How do you use "nice" in a sentence?
"That's very nice of you," Willie answered.
How do you pronounce "nice"?
Pronounced /naɪs/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English nyce, nice, nys, from Old French nice, niche, nisce (“simple, foolish, ignorant”), from Latin nescius (“ignorant, not knowing”); compare nesciō (“to know not, be ignorant of”), from ne (“not”) + sciō (“to know”).
Etymology 2
Name of a Unix program used to invoke a script or program with a specified priority, with the implication that running at a lower priority is "nice" (kind, etc.) because it leaves more resources for others.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from French Nice, from Latin Nīcaea, from Ancient Greek Νῑ́καια (Nī́kaia), named for a 4th-century-BCE victory of its colonizing Phocaean Greeks over local Ligurians, probably the Vediantii, from νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”) + -ῐᾰ (-ĭă, “-ia: forming place names”). Doublet of Iznik and Nicaea.