The word nice used to mean

WATCH: What’s So Wrong With «Nice»?

What’s the origin of nice?

Nice, it turns out, began as a negative term derived from the Latin nescius, meaning “unaware, ignorant.” This sense of “ignorant” was carried over into English when the word was first borrowed (via French) in the early 1300s. And for almost a century, nice was used to characterize a “stupid, ignorant, or foolish” person.

Starting in the late 1300s, nice began to refer to “conduct, a person, or clothing that was considered excessively luxurious or lascivious.” However, by the 1400s a new, more neutral sense of nice was emerging. At this time, nice began to refer to “a person who was finely dressed, someone who was scrupulous, or something that was precise or fussy.”

By the late 1500s, nice was further softening, describing something as “refined, culture,” especially used of polite society.

The high value placed on being coy, delicate, and reserved was instrumental in the semantic amelioration of the term nice in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Jane Austen, for instance, mocked this now-positive term in Northanger Abbey (1817) when Henry Tilney teases the naive Catherine Morland for her overuse of nice. He jokes: “… and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh, it is a very nice word, indeed!—it does for everything.”

What’s the origin of the phrase nice guy?

Over 200 years later, nice still “does (the job) for everything.” It’s a catch-all word for someone or something “pleasant” or “agreeable.”

But, in the popular dating culture, the nice guy has become anything but. In fact, it seems nice, harkening back to its root, is becoming a not-so-nice word again. As found on internet forums as early as the 1980s, romantically unsuccessful men have identified as the niceguy, always losing out to their nemesis: the bad boy.

This dating nice guy apparently draws on earlier constructions of nice guy. Predated by nice fellow in the 1800s, the phrase nice guy is found in the written record in the early 1900s.

The expression nice guys finish last—agreeable people who get overpowered by their more assertive counterparts—is credited to Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in 1946.Nice guy also makes an appearance in no more Mr. Nice Guy, said when someone is throwing down—and implying nice guys are soft and weak. Alice Cooper rocked the saying in his 1973 track “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” A reporter memorably asked it of Richard Nixon about the Vietnam War in 1977.

The language of a nice guy

You’ve likely heard—or maybe even used—the expression he’s a nice guy, but … People may use this phrase as a polite way to decline a potential male partner, whether because they aren’t interested in him or personally don’t find him attractive in some way.

In the 2000s on some feminist spaces on the internet, nice guy started to more specifically refer to an insecure man who expects his kindness to be rewarded with sex. At least that’s in part how the website Heartless Bitches International saw it in their noted 2002 denunciation against the nice guy. This piece helped influence Nice Guy™ and Nice Guy Syndrome, terms for men who think being nice alone entitles them sex.

In current usage, it’s not uncommon to see some so-called nice guys throwing around the term friend-zone. A person (usually a guy) can be put in the friend-zone or be friend-zoned when someone he is interested in dating views him as just a friend. While friend-zone can be used in a neutral way, it is often used in an entitled way to question why a person always chooses the “nice guy” last.

Does this mean no more Mr. Nice Guy?

Of course, the term nice guy can still be used non-ironically to refer to a genuinely nice dude, e.g., “Your dad is such a nice guy!” However, it’s important to keep tone in mind as you come across the term nice guy on the internet, especially if it appears in quotes.

As a 2012 piece in Jezebel reminds us: “… rule number one of being a real nice guy is that you never, ever refer to yourself as a ‘nice guy.’”

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Blog11-24Words can change meaning over time—sometimes dramatically. For example, “manufactured” originally meant “handmade” (manu (hand) + facere (make)). The word “decimate” used to mean “to reduce by a tenth” (decem = ten); now people usually use it mean “to wipe out completely.” The list of examples could go on and on. Yes, words do change meaning over time.

One word that has changed meaning dramatically over time is “nice.” Today it is an overused word that usually means pleasant, kind, or easygoing. In our culture there is often a standing admonition that we should be nice, as in “Stop fighting and be nice now!”

But the adjective “nice” once meant anything but nice in the modern sense. Rather, it was a derogatory word used to describe a person as something of a fool.

The word “nice” comes from the Latin nescius, meaning “ignorant, unaware” (ne (not) + scire (know)). The Old French word “nice” (12th century) also came from this Latin root and meant “careless, clumsy, weak, simple, foolish, or stupid.”

In the 13th century, “nice” meant “foolish, stupid, or senseless.” In the 14th century, the word started to morph into meaning “fussy, fastidious.” In the 15th century it meant “dainty, delicate.” In the 1500s it was used to mean “precise, careful.” By the 18th century it shifted to meaning “agreeable, delightful.” And by the 19th century it had acquired its current connotation of “kind and thoughtful.”

The word “nice” has certainly had a tortured history!

Given its older meaning of “ignorant, stupid, or foolish,” it is not surprising that the word “nice” is used only twice in the Douay-Rheims Bible, and in both cases pejoratively.

Today the word can have a meaning that is properly praiseworthy and is basically a synonym for “good.” For example, one might comment, “That was a nice distinction you made.” Or, observing a sporting event, one might say, “That was a nice move!”

However, I am also convinced that the word “nice” is beginning to return to its less noble meanings. This takes place when it is used in a reductionist manner that seeks to simplify the entire moral life to being “nice.” Here, nice is used in the sense of being pleasant and agreeable. To the modern world, in which “pseudo-tolerance” is one of the only “virtues” left, being nice is about the only commandment left. It seems that much will be forgiven a person just so long as he is “nice.” And little will be accepted from a person who is not thought of as “nice.”

I suppose niceness has its place, but being nice is too akin to being harmless, to being someone who introduces no tension and is most often agreeable. As such, a nice person is not so far away from being a pushover, one who is easily manipulated, silenced, and pressured into tacit approval. And thus “nice” begins to move backward into its older meanings: dainty, agreeable, weak, simple, and even further back into weak, simple, unaware, and ignorant.

The pressure to “be nice” easily translates into pressure to put a dumb grin on your face and pretend that things are great even when they’re not. And to the degree that we succumb to this pressure, we allow those who seek to shame us if we aren’t nice get to watch with glee as we walk around with s dumb grin. And they get to think of us, “What an ignorant fool. What a useful idiot.” And thus “nice” takes up its original meaning.

We follow a Lord who was anything but a harmless hippie, or a kind pushover. He introduced tension, was a sign of contradiction, and was opposed by many because he didn’t always say and do pleasant things. Not everything he said was “nice.” He often used strong words: hypocrites, brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs, murderers of the prophets, and evildoers. He warned of judgment and Hell. He spoke in parables about burning cities, doom, destruction, wailing and grinding of teeth, and of seeing enemies slain. These are not kind words, but they are loving words, because they seek to shock us unto conversion. They speak to us of our true state if we remain rebels. Jesus certainly didn’t end up nailed to cross by being nice in any sense of the word.

In the end, “nice” is a weird word. Its meaning has shifted so many times as to be practically without a stable meaning. Today it has further degraded and increasingly returned to its original meaning. Those who insist on the importance of being “nice” usually mean it for you, but not for themselves. They want to have you walk around with a silly grin on your face, being foolishly pleasant, while they laugh behind your back.

To be sure, being “nice” in its best modern sense has its place. We surely should not go around acting like a grouch all day. But just as being nice has its place, so does being insistent, bold, and uncompromising.

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There is a reason why dictionaries tend to split definitions up into different senses. If we didn’t split them, and just listed all the things that a word might mean, you might look up a common word and see the following definition:

Lewd, wanton, dissolute; coy, modest, diffident, reticent; fastidious; marked by refinement; requiring meticulous choice; requiring or marked by delicate discrimination; lacking vigor or endurance; trivial; pleasing and satisfying; enjoyable, attractive, or delightful; well-intentioned; mild, pleasing, clement (of weather); well or appropriately dressed; most inappropriate (used ironically); unpleasant, unattractive, mean; virtuous, chaste; not profane, indecent, or obscene.

What madness is this? What unholy and devilishly complex word could contain such a multitude of meaning?

The word is nice.

nice

Though ‘nice’ is used to mean «pleasant,» it historically meant «wanton or dissolute.» The word’s other meanings include both «appropriate» and «inappropriate»—and in «Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch,» authors Gaiman & Pratchett note that ‘nice’ can also mean «exact.»

Nice is a splendid example of a word that is highly polysemous, which means that it has multiple meanings. It would be nice if polysemous itself also had multiple meanings, such as “of or relating to slugs,” and “reminiscent of one’s first major disappointment in life,” but alas, this is not the case. However, nice more than picks up the slack.

Nice comes from the Latin word nescius (“ignorant”), which is also the origin of a lesser-known English word, nescience (“ignorance”). The word took a trip from Latin through Old French and Middle English before ending up in Modern English. It is a bit difficult to say with much certainty what the earliest meaning of nice was in Modern English, since by the end of the 14th century there were already a number of different senses of the word.

Nice has meant «dissolute»:

May we not this day read our sin in our punishment? O what nice and wanton appetites, what curious and itching ears, had thy people in the dayes of plenty?
—John Flavel, Husbandry Spiritualized, 1674

Nice has meant «chaste»:

“But Reddy Wheeler knew Daisy. We were properly introduced. It was quite all right!”
“Yes, but nice girls don’t do this sort of thing, you know—unchaperoned, and so late at night, and all that.”
—Fred Jackson, “Young Blood,” Munsey’s Magazine, 1917

It’s easy to tell which sense is being used in which instance, in part because nice has not been much used to mean “dissolute” or “wanton” in the last several hundred years. But even with modern senses we generally are able to use context to distinguish between shades of meaning. For instance, one of the following uses of nice would be defined as “demanding or marked by great precision,” and one would be defined as “unpleasant — used ironically.”

The difference is not enough to prove confusing, it is true, but it exists, and in nice measurements would have to be allowed for.
—Electrical World, 16 Sept. 1911

“I give you my word they did not speak to each other during that dinner, nor would Louise stay to the cotillon. Charlie danced it with Frankie. Nice state of affairs, isn’t it?” I felt myself grow weak.
—Lillian Lida Bell, The Love Affairs of an Old Maid, 1893

Oddly enough for a word that has so many possible meanings, and which carries such specificity in a number of its senses, nice is frequently banned by writing teachers. This is due to students’ apparent overuse of the word in its “agreeable, pleasant” sense, particularly in situations where another word might be a better fit. «It was a sunny, mild day» is more specific than «It was a nice day,» and «Our librarian is funny and patient» tells you more than «Our librarian is nice.» Yet nice, like the overwhelming majority of words, is neither good nor evil in and of itself. If an instructor or editor is determined to remove nice from your writing, you can always claim that you’re using it in one of these myriad other senses. That would be nice—in some sense of the word.

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History of nice:

Nice is a highly polysemous word. A polysemous word has more than one meaning.

Origin: Ne- (not) + scire (know, same root as ‘science’) -> nescire (not know) -> nescius (ignorant) -> nice (careless, clumsy, stupid — late 13c). In 14th century, its meaning was foolish, ignorant and stupid —> semantic change (amelioration) —> fastidious (late 14c) -> precise, careful (1500’s) -> agreeable, delightful (1769) -> kind, thoughtful (1830’s) -> pleasant, agreeable and then respectable (19c) -> pleasant and other positive meanings (20c onwards).

Nice and another English word nescience (meaning: ignorant) have the same origin (nescire).

Brief answer:

It was borrowed from French, meaning silly and stupid. Years later, nice meant dissolute or extravagant in dress and fashionable. From there, the word went on to mean finely dressed or precise about looks. And then, precise about looks changed to precise about reputation.
As time went on, ‘nice’ meant something like to have a refined taste. From here, the positive connotations continued with the idea of being cultured, respectable and agreeable.

Finally, after this perplexing history, ‘nice’ remains a term of approval today. We use it all the time to compliment people.

It entered Modern English through Old French and Middle English from Latin so its meaning has changed over time. This is because of semantic change.

Explanation:

From Merriam Webster:

It is a bit difficult to say with much certainty what the earliest meaning of nice was in Modern English, since by the end of the 14th century there were already a number of different senses of the word — [M-W]

Some other meanings of ‘nice’:

  • ‘Nice’ has meant ‘tarty’:

Sometimes it went further than this pejorative sense — it had the sense of the modern British slang ‘tarty’, or ‘[appropriate to] a woman of promiscuous sexual behaviour’.) — [AWE]

  • ‘Nice’ has meant ‘fastidious’ (around 1500):

Its second main meaning was that of ‘precise’ or ‘fastidious’ — [AWE]

  • ‘Nice’ has meant ‘dissolute’:

May we not this day read our sin in our punishment? O what nice and wanton appetites, what curious and itching ears, had thy people in the dayes of plenty? — John Flavel, Husbandry Spiritualized, 1674 — [M-W]

  • ‘Nice’ has meant ‘chaste’:

“But Reddy Wheeler knew Daisy. We were properly introduced. It was quite all right!”
“Yes, but nice girls don’t do this sort of thing, you know—unchaperoned, and so late at night, and all that.” — Fred Jackson, “Young Blood,” Munsey’s Magazine, 1917 — [M-W]

‘Nice’ has meant ‘finicky’:

By the 16th century, the sense of being «very particular» or «finicky» had developed — [Word Central]

Why did the meaning of ‘nice’ change:

The meaning of nice changed because of a common phenomenon called Semantic change.

Semantic change

In semantics and historical linguistics, semantic change refers to any change in the meaning(s) of a word over the course of time. Also called semantic shift, lexical change, and semantic progression. Common types of semantic change include amelioration, pejoration, broadening, semantic narrowing, bleaching, metaphor, and metonymy.

1. Amelioration:

When a word with negative meaning develops a positive meaning, the process is called ‘amelioration’.

The literal meaning of ameliorate is to make something unpleasant better.

Example: The best example of amelioration is ‘nice’.
‘Nice’ had negative meanings (ignorant, stupid and silly in 14th century), now it’s used in positive sense (pleasant, excellent, admirable etc).

The opposite of amelioration is pejoration

2. Pejoration:

When a word with positive meaning develops a negative meaning, the process is called ‘pejoration’.

The literal meaning of pejorate is to make something worse.

Example:

A very common example of pejoration is the word ‘gay’.

‘Gay’ originally meant lighthearted and joyous in 13th century. In 14th century, its meaning was bright and showy. It acquired negative connotations (immorality) around 1637. Presently, it’s used to mean homosexual. See how it developed negative meaning. It’s called pejoration.

References:

  • Merriam Webster
  • Dictionary.com
  • Wikipedia
  • ADW Blog
  • Maitland Mercury
  • Amelioration — ThoughtCo
  • Mental Floss
  • ADW blog
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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • nyc (non-standard)
  • noice (slang)

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: nīs, IPA(key): /naɪs/
  • (India) IPA(key): /nɑɪs/, /nɑjs/
  • (Falkland Islands English) IPA(key): /nəɪs/
  • Rhymes: -aɪs
  • Homophone: gneiss

Etymology 1[edit]

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”).

Adjective[edit]

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

  1. (chiefly informal) Pleasant, satisfactory. [from 18th c.]
    • 1998, Baha Men – “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
      When the party was nice, the party was jumpin’ (Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo)
    • 2008, Rachel Cooke, The Guardian, 20 Apr.:
      «What’s difficult is when you think someone is saying something nice about you, but you’re not quite sure.»
  2. (chiefly informal) Of a person: friendly, attractive. [from 18th c.]
  3. Respectable; virtuous. [from 18th c.]

    What is a nice person like you doing in a place like this?

  4. (with and, chiefly informal) Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite. [from 18th c.]

    The soup is nice and hot.

    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients:

      We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.

  5. (chiefly informal) Showing refinement or delicacy, proper, seemly
    a nice way of putting it
  6. (obsolete) Silly, ignorant; foolish. [14th–17th c.]
  7. (now rare) Particular in one’s conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy. [from 14th c.]

    • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 2, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

      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.

    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

      Mr Blifil, I am confident, understands himself better than to think of seeing my niece any more this morning, after what hath happened. Women are of a nice contexture; and our spirits, when disordered, are not to be recomposed in a moment.

    • 1999, Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford 2008, p.83:
      But if I dispense with the dreams of neurotics, my main material, I cannot be too nice [translating wählerisch] in my dealings with the remainder.
  8. (dated) Having particular tastes; fussy, fastidious. [from 14th c.]
  9. (obsolete) Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict. [16th–19th c.]

    • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 14:

      “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. …»

    • 1818, Jane Austen, Persuasion, chapter 16:
      «Good company requires only birth, education and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice. Birth and good manners are essential.»
  10. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle. [from 16th c.]
    • 1914: Saki, Laura:
      «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.»
    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p.131:
      It would be a nice theological point to try and establish whether Ophis is Moslem or gnostic.
    • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p.242:
      Why it should have attained such longevity is a nice question.
  11. (obsolete) Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
  12. (obsolete) Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky. [16th–19th c.]

    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

      [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?

      Is it good / To bet all of our wealth / On one throw of the dice? To place so high a stake / On the risky hazard of one doubtful hour?
    • 1822, T. Creevey, Reminiscences, 28 Jul.:
      It has been a damned nice thing — the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.
Usage notes[edit]

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

  • 1710, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. XIV
    I have strictly observed this rule, and my imagination this minute represents before me a certain great man famous for this talent, to the constant practice of which he owes his twenty years’ reputation of the most skilful head in England, for the management of nice affairs.
  • 1930, H.M. Walker, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
    Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten us into.
  • 1973, Cockerel Chorus, Nice One, Cyril!
    Nice one, Cyril!
Synonyms[edit]
  • (easy to like: person): charming, delightful, friendly, kind, 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[edit]
  • (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
  • (respectable; virtuous): naughty
Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from nice (adjective)

[edit]
  • nicety
Descendants[edit]
  • → Dutch: nice
  • → German: nice
  • → Danish: nice
  • → Japanese: ナイス
  • → Swedish: najs, nice
  • → Norwegian:
    • Norwegian Bokmål: nice
Translations[edit]

pleasant

  • American Sign Language: OpenB@BasePalm-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp OpenB@Finger-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp
  • Arabic: حَسَّن‎ (ar) (ḥassan), لَطِيف‎ (laṭīf)
  • Azerbaijani: gözəl (az), qəşəng (az)
  • Basque: atsegin
  • Belarusian: до́бры (be) (dóbry), мі́лы (míly), прые́мны (pryjémny), фа́йны (fájny)
  • Belizean Creole: nais
  • Bulgarian: симпати́чен (bg) (simpatíčen), мил (bg) (mil), любе́зен (bg) (ljubézen), прия́тен (bg) (prijáten)
  • Chickasaw: chokma (to be nice)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 美好的 (zh) (měihǎo de)
  • Czech: hezký (cs), příjemný (cs), milý (cs)
  • Dutch: leuk (nl), aangenaam (nl), fijn (nl)
  • Esperanto: agrabla (eo)
  • Estonian: meeldiv
  • Finnish: kiva (fi), mukava (fi), sympaattinen (fi)
  • French: gentil (fr), sympathique (fr), sympa (fr), agréable (fr)
  • German: freundlich (de), sympathisch (de), lieb (de), nett (de)
    Alemannic German: nett
  • Greek: καλός (el) (kalós)
  • Hebrew: נֶחְמָד‎ (he) (nekhmád)
  • Hungarian: kellemes (hu), szép (hu)
  • Irish: deas
  • Italian: simpatico (it), piacevole (it), gentile (it)
  • Japanese: 快い (ja) (こころよい, kokoroyoi), 可愛い (ja) (kawaii)
  • Korean: 좋은 (ko) (jo’eun)
  • Latin: lepidus
  • Louisiana Creole French: joli, jenti, vayan
  • Maori: hūmārika, hūmārie
  • Middle English: wynly
  • Norman: genti
  • Norwegian: hyggelig (no), sympatisk
  • Persian: دلپذیر‎ (fa) (delpazir), ناز‎ (fa) (nâz)
  • Polish: miły (pl), przyjemny (pl), fajny (pl), dobry (pl)
  • Portuguese: bonito (pt), agradável (pt), simpático (pt)
  • Romanian: simpatic (ro)
  • Russian: ми́лый (ru) (mílyj), прия́тный (ru) (prijátnyj), хоро́ший (ru) (xoróšij)
  • Scottish Gaelic: laghach
  • Slovak: príjemný, milý
  • Somali: fiican
  • Spanish: simpático (es), agradable (es), amable (es), bueno (es)
  • Swahili: nzuri (sw)
  • Swedish: vänlig (sv), sympatisk (sv), trevlig (sv)
  • Tok Pisin: naispela
  • Turkish: hoş (tr), güzel (tr), iyi (tr)
  • Ukrainian: до́брий (uk) (dóbryj), фа́йний (fájnyj), приє́мний (pryjémnyj), ми́лий (mýlyj)
  • Vietnamese: tốt (vi)

attractive

  • American Sign Language: OpenB@BasePalm-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp OpenB@Finger-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp
  • Basque: eder
  • Belarusian: мі́лы (míly), фа́йны (fájny)
  • Bulgarian: ху́бав (bg) (húbav), краси́в (bg) (krasív)
  • Czech: hezký (cs), pěkný (cs), krásný (cs),
  • Danish: pæn (da)
  • Dutch: aantrekkelijk (nl), mooi (nl), knap (nl)
  • Estonian: kena
  • Finnish: nätti (fi), viehättävä (fi), mukava (fi), kiva (fi)
  • French: beau (fr), joli (fr)
  • German: schön (de), hübsch (de), nett (de)
  • Greek: ωραίος (el) (oraíos)
  • Hebrew: יָפֶה‎ (he) (yafé), נָאֶה‎ (he) (na’é)
  • Hungarian: szép (hu)
  • Irish: deas
  • Italian: bello (it)
  • Korean: 착하다 (ko) (chakhada)
  • Latin: pulcher
  • Maori: ranginamu
  • Norwegian: pen (no)
  • Persian: پسندیده‎ (fa) (pasandide), ناز‎ (fa) (nâz)
  • Portuguese: bom (pt), agradável (pt)
  • Russian: симпати́чный (ru) (simpatíčnyj), ми́лый (ru) (mílyj)
  • Scottish Gaelic: snog
  • Slovak: pekný, krásny
  • Spanish: bonito (es), bello (es), lindo (es)
  • Swahili: nzuri (sw)
  • Swedish: fin (sv), vacker (sv)
  • Telugu: ఆకర్షణీయమైన (te) (ākarṣaṇīyamaina)
  • Tok Pisin: naispela
  • Ukrainian: ми́лий (mýlyj), фа́йний (fájnyj), прива́бливий (pryváblyvyj)

having a pleasant taste or aroma

  • Arabic: طَيِّب‎ (ṭayyib), عَطِر‎ (ʕaṭir)
  • Bulgarian: вкусен (bg) (vkusen)
  • Dutch: lekker (nl), aangenaam (nl)
  • Estonian: maitsev (et)
  • Finnish: maukas (fi) (tasty), hyvä (fi), herkullinen (fi)
  • French: bon (fr)
  • German: lecker (de), angenehm (de)
  • Greek: νόστιμος (el) (nóstimos)
  • Hebrew: נָעִים‎ (he) (na’ím)
  • Italian: buono (it)
  • Maori: kakara
  • Persian: خوشمزه‎ (fa) (xošmaze), خوشبو‎ (fa) (xošbô)
  • Polish: miły (pl)
  • Portuguese: agradável (pt)
  • Russian: (tasty) вку́сный (ru) (vkúsnyj)
  • Spanish: rico (es), bueno (es)
  • Swahili: nzuri (sw)
  • Swedish: god (sv), smaklig (sv), läcker (sv)
  • Telugu: పసందైన (te) (pasandaina)

Adverb[edit]

nice (comparative nicer, superlative nicest)

  1. (colloquial) Nicely.

    Children, play nice.

    He dresses real nice.

    • 2002, Gina Riley; Jane Turner, That’s Unusual: Scripts from Kath and Kim, Series 2, page 245:

      This riesling’s going down nice.

Interjection[edit]

nice!

  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!

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

nice (uncountable)

  1. niceness.

    • 2000, Dana Stabenow, Midnight Come Again, →ISBN, page 111:

      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.

    • 2013, Todd Whitaker, What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most, →ISBN:

      We could debate forever about whether we have enough of one or too much of another. But I know one thing for sure: We never have too much nice.

    • 2014, Jean Illsley Clarke, Connie Dawson, &David Bredehoft, How Much Is Too Much?, →ISBN:

      It is the absence of rules and too much nice that are more likely to produce terror.

Etymology 2[edit]

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.

Verb[edit]

nice (third-person singular simple present nices, present participle nicing, simple past and past participle niced)

  1. (transitive, computing, Unix) To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.
Derived terms[edit]
  • renice

Further reading[edit]

  • nice in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • “nice”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
  • nice at OneLook Dictionary Search
  • Nice at NiceDefinition.com

Anagrams[edit]

  • Ince, Niec, cien, cine, cine-, icen

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈnɪt͡sɛ]
  • Rhymes: -ɪtsɛ
  • Hyphenation: ni‧ce

Noun[edit]

nice

  1. dative/locative singular of nika

Anagrams[edit]

  • Ince

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English nice.

Adjective[edit]

nice (used only predicatively, not comparable)

  1. (slang) nice

    Haar nieuwe album is echt nice.

    Her new album is really nice.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French nice, inherited from Latin nescius.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /nis/

Adjective[edit]

nice (plural nices)

  1. (archaic) candid, naive

    • 1907, Colette, La retraite sentimentale, page 41:

      Oui, crédulement, vous ne comprenez pas? Entendez donc que j’ai cru, plus nice qu’une pensionnaire, au pouvoir exclusif de cet inconnu que je fuyais !

      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Derived terms[edit]

  • nicet

Further reading[edit]

  • “nice”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English nice.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /naɪ̯s/

Adjective[edit]

nice (strong nominative masculine singular nicer, comparative (rare) nicer, superlative (extremely rare) am nicesten)

  1. (colloquial) good, nice

    • 2020 December 8, Sara Tomšić, “Die Zukunft, das ist die grüne Samtcouch”, in ZEITmagazin‎[2]:

      Na gut. Und auch, wenn ich nur das eine Regal hatte – in der Schule konnte ich durch dich mitreden. Ja, Pax, voll nice und geräumig, der Poäng-Sessel, mega gemütlich.

      Fine. And even if I only had that one shelf – thanks to you, I had a say in conversations at school. Oh, Pax, all nice and spacious, and the Poäng armchair, super comfortable.

    • 2021, “Feeling”, performed by Fatoni & Dexter:

      Ich steh’ im Club / Seh’ ziemlich nice aus / Ah, wobei, die Schuhe / Ne, scheiß drauf, ich seh’ nice aus

      I’m at the club / Lookin’ pretty good / Actually, these shoes / Nah, fuck it, I look good

Declension[edit]

Comparative forms of nice

Superlative forms of nice

Further reading[edit]

  • “nice” in Duden online
  • “nice” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • “nice”, in Online-Wortschatz-Informationssystem Deutsch (in German), Mannheim: Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, 2008–

Middle English[edit]

Adjective[edit]

nice

  1. Alternative form of nyce

Turkish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Ottoman Turkish نیچه‎ (nice, “how much”), from Proto-Turkic *nēče, equative form of *nē (“what”). See ne (“what”), cognate to Karakhanid ناجا‎ (nēčē, “how much”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [niˈd͡ʒe]

Adjective[edit]

nice

  1. many
Synonyms[edit]
  • çok

Etymology 2[edit]

Ultimately from Proto-Turkic *nē- (“interrogative archetype”).

Adverb[edit]

nice

  1. (dialectal or poetic) how
Synonyms[edit]
  • nasıl
Источник

/ Vocabulary / ‘NICE’ is not ‘nice’ ANYMORE: Anatomy of the word ‘nice’

‘NICE’ is not ‘nice’ ANYMORE: Anatomy of the word ‘nice’


You see the prettiest dress and cry out to your mother, «Ma, look at that dress. It is so nice!»

Brendon expects to get a D in Math but ends up with a B, and ends up saying, «Nice!»

You ask your boss for feedback on the project file you prepared for the Sunday meeting and he goes,»You know Shanon, it’s nice.»

The meaning of nice hasn’t been, well, actually this «nice». Let us take a look back history.                                                      

Nice had originally a negative meaning. It started coming to use with Latin nescius meaning ignorant. From there, it developed the meaning coy. This, in turn, gave rise to nice meaning perfectionism or being fastidious. This led to nice meaning «subtle and fine». This final meaning was held correct and all the meanings started growing surrounding it. From 1300 to 1400s nice was all about being luxurious and well dressed. Then onwards it moved more toward the attitude of the people, and then nice meant refined society. In the 1800s, nice started meaning shy, reserved and delicate, thanks to Jane Austen’s use of the word to describe good things.

People wanted to appear less friendly, and the credit goes to the 50s notion of people not wanting to be a «nice guy» anymore. This was influenced by the song lyrics of that time. However, «Nice guys» are what the millennials call the «forever friend zoned» guys or the guys that aren’t actually that «nice». Though it can also be used unironically to mean a person who’s actually really nice. The modern times have multiple meanings of nice. The most commonly used meanings are: pleasant, enjoyable, attractive, delightful, mild, well-intentioned, enough and virtuous. The lesser common meanings are: obscene, trivial, lacking vigor, etc. 

From what we can see there is much ambivalence regarding the meaning of it. So, writing teachers nowadays forbid the use of nice, because it’s beginning to get overused in the «pleasing/ likable» way. So, it is better to use a more befitting word or any other meaning of the word nice according to the context of writing, because nice isn’t just nice anymore.

Источник

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