What is a better word for nicer

Asked by: Ms. Karolann Considine DDS

Score: 5/5
(75 votes)

words and music

Well, however we choose to speak in our current vernacular, the correct wording is «nicer»—nice, nicer, nicest. Some words use «more» in front to designate greater amounts, but there are standard rules for that, also.

Can I use the word nicer?

Nicer was valid back in 1989 and is still valid today, though of course it is possible to include it in a grammatically incorrect sentence. So either you misunderstood your teacher at the time or she was wrong about this word.

What kind of word is nicer?

Nicer is an adjective — Word Type.

Is it most nice or nicest?

Superlative form of nice: most nice.

Is more nicely correct?

2 Answers. According to the wikitionary, «more nicely» is the comparative form. There is a grammar rule in English that adverbs in -ly and participles have forms of comparison with «more» and «most».

31 related questions found

The word ‘nice’ is a versatile English adjective. It can be used to describe almost anything – physical objects, people, experiences, smells, sounds, ideas… No wonder there are so many synonyms for nice out there!

But its versatility can also be its downfall. You may find yourself using the word ‘nice’ too often, making your vocabulary repetitive. Or, you might end up sounding boring or non-descriptive because you describe something as ‘nice’ when another word would give much more meaning.

So, here we will look at some better words for nice which you can use in different circumstances, depending on the thing you wish to describe.

Synonyms – words that have the same or a similar meaning – can make your vocabulary much richer and more nuanced. However, it’s important to learn the proper meaning of each word to be sure you’re using it correctly. Just because two words are synonyms of nice, it does not mean they are necessarily interchangeable.

So, how do you go about finding another word for nice that is suitable to use in a particular context? You should certainly look in a thesaurus. However, as mentioned above, not every word that is listed as a synonym for nice will be appropriate to use in your sentence.

For example, we could describe a ‘nice view’ as ‘spectacular’ and a ‘nice person’ as ‘friendly’. But you wouldn’t talk about a ‘friendly view’ or a ‘spectacular person’.

This is why it is important to not only learn different words for nice, but also know when it’s appropriate to use them.

More descriptive words for nice

Another reason why you should consider using synonyms for nice is that they will add more description and meaning to what you say.

Consider this conversation:

James: Hi Paul, did you have a good holiday?
Paul: Yes thanks, it was really nice.

What does this mean?

Paul may have spent a week relaxing on a beach or he may have been trekking through a jungle. ‘Nice’ just doesn’t give James enough information. A more descriptive word such as ‘relaxing’ or ‘fun’ would at least give James some idea of what the holiday was like.

The use of the word ‘nice’ in this kind of context can also suggest a lack of enthusiasm. James might think that perhaps Paul didn’t enjoy his holiday all that much.

Or how about this:

Sonia: What did you do last night?
Lizzie: We went to see a nice show at the theater.

Again, there could be a better word for nice which describes what the show was like. Was it funny? Moving? Dramatic?

Next time you find yourself wanting to use ‘nice’ to describe something, pause for a moment and see if you can think of a different word that would express your thoughts in a more descriptive way.

How to find a better word for nice

Here is an exercise you can try to help expand your vocabulary and avoid saying ‘nice’ too much.

1. Think of five things that you could describe as nice

For example:

• A cake
• A house
• A friend
• A vacation
• A song

Try to make the five things as different as possible.

2. Think of alternative adjectives for these things

For each of the five things, think of five different adjectives for nice which are more descriptive. You can look up synonyms for nice in a thesaurus to get you started.

Continuing from the words above, we could have the following alternative words for nice:

• Cake: delicious, tasty, lovely, pretty, yummy
• House: beautiful, cosy, spacious, lovely, homey
• Friend: kind, friendly, considerate, polite, sweet
• Vacation: relaxing, restful, fun, wonderful, enjoyable
• Song: pleasant, tuneful, melodious, calming, catchy

There’s no need to stop at five adjectives if you can think of more than that.

So, you can see that the word ‘nice’ can be interpreted in so many different ways. Additionally, one person’s idea of whether something is nice may be different to another’s.

Nice and …

There are a couple of occasions where we use ‘nice’ in a fixed expression in English. In this case it is ‘nice and …’ followed by an adjective. For example:

• Your bedroom is nice and clean, thank you for tidying it.
• That sweatshirt looks nice and comfy.
• This tea is nice and hot.

In all of these examples, you are saying that the subject is nice, pleasant, enjoyable because of the adjective that follows. I.e. the sweatshirt looks like it is nice because it is comfortable. You consider the tea to be nice because you like hot tea.

Nice as an exclamation

Finally, you may hear ‘nice’ used as an exclamation of approval or congratulation, for example:

Jo: I came top of my class in the science test!
Dad: Nice!

Chris: I just got a new company car; it’s the latest model with all the extra features.
Steve: Nice!

In this case, there is no need to really search for synonyms of nice. Although quite informal, it shows that you appreciate the achievement or accomplishment the person has just told you about.

Final thoughts

If you’re worried about repetitive or lackluster adjectives in your writing, ‘nice’ is definitely a good word to target. Although there is nothing wrong with it in certain situations, there is usually a better word for nice that would convey your meaning more effectively.

You can start by finding synonyms for nice in a thesaurus, but do always be careful that the alternative adjective you select is appropriate for the context.

• affable,
• agreeable,
• amiable,
• genial,
• good-natured,
• good-tempered,
• gracious,
• mellow,

What is a better word than nice?

SYNONYMS. pleasant, likeable, agreeable, personable, charming, delightful, amiable, affable, friendly, kindly, genial, congenial, good-natured, engaging, gracious, sympathetic, understanding, compassionate, good.

What is the most positive word?

Top 25 Positive Words In English

• Flourishing. …
• Lustrous. …
• Noble. …
• Respect. …
• Laughter. Laughter is the sound of someone laughing. …
• Unconditional. Unconditional means there are no conditions attached. …
• Smiling. Smiling is laughing in a smaller, quieter way. …
• Hope. Hope is the expectation that something will happen.

What is another word for good at?

What is another word for be good at?

What are some happy words?

• blissful,
• delighted,
• glad,
• joyful,
• joyous,
• jubilant,
• rejoicing,
• tickled.

What is the happiest word?

Laughter

How do you express joy in words?

Ways of expressing happiness and pleasure – thesaurus

1. hooray. interjection. mainly spoken a word that you shout to show that you are excited and happy about something.
2. aah. interjection. …
3. excellent. adjective. …
4. lovely. adjective. …
5. happily. adverb. …
6. good for/on someone. phrase. …
7. hallelujah. interjection. …
8. good. adjective.

What is another word for joy?

joy

• beatitude,
• blessedness,
• bliss,
• blissfulness,
• felicity,
• gladness,
• happiness,
• warm fuzzies.

What is another word for happiness or joy?

SYNONYMS FOR happiness 1, 2 pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentedness, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction.

How do you express success in words?

success

1. accomplishment.
2. achievement.
3. advance.
4. benefit.
5. profit.
6. prosperity.
7. victory.
8. win.

What is success in simple words?

Definition of Success: Success (the opposite of failure) is the status of having achieved and accomplished an aim or objective. Being successful means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals. … The dictionary describes success as the following: “attaining wealth, prosperity and/or fame”.

What is success one word?

Accomplishment . Upvote (1) Answer added by م.أحمد محمود شرف الدين, مدير المكتب الهندسي , مكتب هندسي خاص بي للأعمال الهندسية

What can I say instead of success?

other words for successful

• fortunate.
• fruitful.
• lucky.
• lucrative.
• outstanding.
• prosperous.
• rewarding.
• wealthy.

What do u call a successful person?

achiever. noun. someone who is successful because they are determined and work hard.

What is real success in life?

Real success in life is achieving the goals that matter to you the most. Based on the way your personality developed and the life experiences you have been through since you were born certain certain things will become important to you. Those things should define your goals and mission in life.

How do you describe success?

Being successful means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals. Furthermore, success can be a certain social status that describes a prosperous person that could also have gained fame for its favorable outcome. The dictionary describes success as the following: “attaining wealth, prosperity and/or fame”.

What is success in Islam?

The Qur’an mentions two types of success: falah (success in this life, mainly) and fawz (ultimate success in the next life). Fawz has been described as al-fawz-ul-adheem (triumphant success), al-fawz-ul-mubeen (evident success), and al-fawz-al-kabeer (huge success).

What are examples of success?

Success is the achievement of something desired, worked for or the gaining of fame or wealth. An example of success is an author’s book making it to The New York Times best sellers list. The gaining of wealth, fame, rank, etc.

How do you define beauty using your own words?

1 – “Beauty means feeling comfortable in your own skin and appreciating your imperfections.” 2 – “Beauty means feeling good about yourself, whether it is because of makeup or nice clothes or exercising, it is having confidence in yourself.” 3 – “Confidence.”

How do you define beauty?

1 : the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : loveliness a woman of great physical beauty exploring the natural beauty of the island A thing of beauty is a joy forever …— John Keats.

What is true beauty in a woman?

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair… True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It’s the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows and the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”

What is a woman’s strength?

The strength of a woman is her unconditional love. for her children and others. The strength of a woman is to be a peacemaker. The strength of a woman is to be able to feel things no one else can. The strength of a woman is to be able.

What characteristics make a woman beautiful?

5 Attributes That Make a Woman Truly Beautiful

• Posture. Posture matters in so many situations. …
• Healthy Skin. There’s a lot to be said for skin that is unblemished and healthy. …
• Smile. It’s been said that the most attractive facial features will go unnoticed if there is no smile. …
• General Appearance. …
• Self-Confidence.

It’s hard to think of a more overused, vanilla word than nice. Not that there’s anything wrong with vanilla, especially if sprinkles are involved! But when there’s a whole world of other choices, it’s good to have some options in your vocabulary—some may even be twice as nice. 

Also, it’s worth considering that when we describe someone or something as nice, that’s not exactly what we mean. We may be hedging around our real feelings or mean something else entirely. 

The not-so-nice origins of the word

An adjective, nice is defined as “pleasing; agreeable; delightful.” All of which are great synonyms for the word. The funny thing is that the word’s origins aren’t all that nice at all. 

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.

However, by the 1400s, a new, more neutral sense of nice was emerging. 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. And from there, nice evolved into our go-to, catch-all term for anything, well, nice.

Let’s turn our attention back to synonyms: what other choices do you have that may be nicer than nice? Let’s take a look. 

kind 

Instead of teaching our kids to be nice, what we really want to teach them is to be kind. Kind is different than nice because it involves empathy and caring about others. It’s not just about being polite, but it’s having “a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person.” 

This is an old word, with first evidence of it appearing before the year 900. It stems from the Old English word gecynde, meaning “natural, genial.”

polite

Being polite is about following etiquette rules (saying “please,” “thank you,” and “yes, ma’am”) and not being rude. And while you may come off as nice, being polite isn’t always an indicator of someone’s actual nature. Take Eddie Haskell from the ’50s sitcom Leave It to Beaver. He was as polite and nice as could be on the surface, but a troublemaker when no one was looking. Or if that’s way before your time, and you’re thinking “Eddie, who?!,” think about it this way: you may force yourself to be polite to your annoying, brown-nosing coworker when you really feel like stomping on their toes. (Not nice!)

The word is found around 1400–50 and is derived from the Latin word pol?re, meaning “to polish.”

mundane 

Sometimes when we’re trying to be polite, we describe someone or something as “nice” to avoid saying something is not blowing our socks off or it’s mundane. We can’t think of anything nice to say, so we say … “nice.” 

Mundane is defined as “common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative.” So, while you probably don’t want to tell Grandma Gertie you find the gift she gave you “mundane,” if someone’s asking you for a recommendation about a restaurant you recently visited, this word will give them a better idea of what they might expect than “nice.” 

Mundane is first recorded around 1425–75 and stems from the Latin word mundus (“world“).

nondescript

Often when we say something or someone is “nice,” a better word might be nondescript, which means “of no recognized, definite, or particular type or kind.” It means we’re not sure how to categorize them, that there’s nothing that really stands out about that person or thing. Being nondescript is a good thing if you’re a private eye, but probably not so much if the word is being used to describe a piece of art or person you just met. 

Nondescript is ultimately derived from the Latin word d?scr?bere. It is found in English around 1675–85. 

friendly 

If you’re in a new or uncomfortable situation, it’s always nice to see a friendly face. Someone who is friendly does more than just make polite conversation; they act like they want to be your friend. A friend is defined as “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.”  

Friendly is first recorded before the year 900, making it one of our oldest words. It comes from the Old English word fr?ondl?c. (Fr?ond meant “friend, lover, relative” back then.) Fun fact: the words friend and fiend are just one letter apart, but what a difference one letter makes when it comes to who you want by your side!

copacetic 

If you want to get a little fancier, you can throw out the word copacetic. It’s a slang term that means “fine; completely satisfactory; OK.” When you hear chaos coming from upstairs where your teen is gathered with their friends, they may reassure you that everything is “copacetic.” Whether it is or not is up to you to determine.  

It’s a relatively new word with first evidence of it dating back to around 1915–20. It’s an Americanism, but beyond that, its origin is unknown. 

boring 

This is why being a “nice guy” is often the kiss of death. When we describe someone as “nice”—especially if there’s a long pause before—what we probably mean is boring. It is first recorded in 1835–45 and stems from the word bore, which when used as a noun is defined as “a dull, tiresome, or uncongenial person.” 

prosaic 

If you don’t want to be quite as blunt as boring, you could choose to use the word prosaic to describe something without much of a wow factor. Its definition is similar (“commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative”), but it has more of a formal flair. For example, if you’re discussing an opera you just saw that was a bit of a snooze-fest, you might say it was “prosaic” rather than “nice.” 

lovely 

Hearing someone say that they had a lovely time at your dinner party feels much more genuine than hearing that they had a nice time. And there’s sure to be a little more pep in your step if someone tells you that you look ”lovely” instead of just “nice.” It packs more of an emotional punch and feels more intimate. 

First evidence of this word goes back to before the year 900. It stems from the Old English word lufl?c, which means “amiable.” 

memorable 

Your trip to the Grand Canyon, that date that went just right, or a special afternoon with your grandma—all these things may be nice, but memorable might be a better word to describe them. Of course, memorable isn’t always a positive thing (you’ll likely never forget the time you got food poisoning from that hole-in-the-wall restaurant), but it’s more specific than nice.

Memorable is recorded in English around 1400–1450. It is derived from the Latin word memor?re (“to bring to mind”).

No need to nix nice all the time

Sometimes, nice will suffice just fine. It’s a perfectly fine word (don’t get us started on fine!), and we’ll take nice over mean any day. But there are also a whole lot of other wonderful words out there to spice up your vocabulary and more accurately convey your emotions. Now, isn’t that nice (great/helpful/awesome/exciting/enlightening)?