nice

Definitions from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

See also Nice

1 English

Original usage: "A nice distinction", meaning a distinction so subtle it would only be made by the ignorant. Similar in meaning to the phrase "a moot point". The illogical association of "nice" with good feelings probably arose from the loss of the original meaning and a false interpretation of the word's usage.

[ Pronunciation

enPR: nīs, IPA: /naɪs/, SAMPA: /naIs/
Audio (US)^{help, file}
Rhymes: -aɪs

[ Adjective

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

Positive
nice

Comparative
nicer

Superlative
nicest

Of a thing or person or event, pleasant, pretty:

What a nice dress!
admirable, enviable:

A third-term senator holds a nice level of seniority.
Innocent; gentle; distinguished by perceived class or virtue:

What is a nice person like you doing in a place like this?
Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle

a nice distinction
neat; elegantly succinct:

Fermat believed he had a nice proof of his theorem.
Bordering on failure or disaster; succeeding by the narrowest of margins:

"It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life" -- The Duke of Wellington shortly after the Battle of Waterloo, 1815.
(colloquial) With "and", excellent, pleasing:

The soup is nice and hot.

Sometimes used sarcastically to mean the opposite or to connote excess.

[ Synonyms

(easy to like: person): charming, delightful, lovely, pleasant, sweet
(easy to like: thing): charming, delightful, lovely, pleasant
(having a pleasant taste or aroma): appetising/appetizing, delicious, moreish (informal), scrummy (slang), scrumptious (slang), tasty
(subtle): fine, subtle

[ Antonyms

(easy to like: person): horrible, horrid, nasty
(easy to like: thing): horrible, horrid, nasty
(having a pleasant taste or aroma): awful, disgusting, foul, horrible, horrid, nasty, nauseating, putrid, rancid, rank, sickening,distasteful,gross, unsatisfactory
(subtle):

[ Related terms

[ Translations

easy to like

Arabic: حسن (ħássan)
Chinese: trad. 美好的, simpl. 美好的 (měihǎode)
Czech: hezký, příjemný, milý
Dutch: aardig, aardige, sympathiek, sympathieke, leuk, leuke, aangenaam, aangename, fijn, fijne
Finnish: kiva (colloquial), mukava, sympaattinen (of people)
French: (person) gentil m., gentille f., sympathique m. and f., sympa (informal) m. and f.; (thing) agréable
German: freundlich, sympathisch, lieb, nett
Greek: καλός (kalós) m.
Hebrew: נחמד ^(he) (nekhmád) m., נחמדה ^(he) (nekhmadá) f.
Hungarian: kellemes, szép

Italian: (person) simpatico m., simpatica f., (thing) piacevole m. and f.
Japanese: 快い (こころよい, kokoroyoi)
Korean: 좋은 (joheun)
Norwegian: hyggelig, sympatisk
Polish: miły, przyjemny
Portuguese: bonito, agradável, simpático
Russian: милый (mílyj) of a person, приятный (prijátnyj) of a thing
Slovak: príjemný, pěkný
Spanish: simpático m., simpática f., agradable, amable
Swedish: sympatisk
Turkish: hoş, güzel, iyi

pleasant to look at

Czech: hezký m., pěkný m., krásný m.,
Dutch: aantrekkelijk, aantrekkelijke, mooi, mooie, knap, knappe
French: beau m., belle f., joli m., jolie f.
German: schön
Greek: ωραίας (oréas) m., ωραία (oréa) f., ωραίο (oréo) n.
Hebrew: יפה ^(he) (yafé) m., יפה ^(he) (yafá) f., נעה ^(he) (na`é) m., נעה ^(he) (na`á) f.

Italian: bello m., bella f.
Norwegian: pen
Russian: симпатичный (simpatíčnyj)
Spanish: bonito m., bonita f., bello m., bella f.

having a pleasant taste or aroma

Dutch: lekker, lekkere, aangenaam, aangename
French: bon m., bonne f.
German: lecker, angenehm
Greek: νόστιμος (nóstimo) m., νόστιμη (nóstimi) f., νόστιμο (nóstimo) n. (taste)