adj.
- giving pleasure or satisfaction.
▸good-natured; kind.
- fine or subtle:
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a nice distinction.
▸requiring careful attention.
- archaic fastidious.
Phrase
- nice and ——
satisfactory in terms of the quality described. - nice one
informal expressing approval.
Derivative
- niceish adj.
- nicely adv.
- niceness n.
History
The word nice entered Middle English in the sense ‘stupid’, from Latin nescius, meaning ‘ignorant’. It developed a range of senses, from ‘wanton and dissolute’ to ‘strange or rare’ and ‘coy or reserved’. It was first used with a positive connotation in the sense ‘fine or subtle’ in the 16th century, and the current main meanings, senses 1 and 2, are recorded from the late 18th century.
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