nice

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /naɪs/ UK /ˈnaɪ̯s/ See IPA manual

Homophones

gneiss /ˈnaɪs/

Freq #196

Meanings

1

adj
Pleasant, enjoyable, or attractive.

We had a really nice time at the beach.
2

adj
Kind and friendly toward other people.

She is a nice person who always helps her neighbours.
3

adj
Polite and well-mannered.

It was nice of him to hold the door open for us.

Word forms

The same word in different grammatical forms.

Adjective

Base form: nice
It is a nice room.
Comparative: nicer
This room is nicer than the last one.
Superlative: nicest
It is the nicest room in the hotel.

Use the comparative to compare two things or actions. Use the superlative for the highest or lowest degree in a group.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · kind and friendly toward... charming

3 adj · polite and well-mannered. gracious

More delightful friendly kind lovely pleasant sweet

Opposites

awful disgusting distasteful foul gross horrible horrid nasty naughty nauseating putrid rancid

Word family

Related forms nicety

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

nice guy
a man considered kind, friendly, or pleasant

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (5)

See all

Simplified etymology

Nice entered medieval English from Latin nescius “ignorant” and initially meant “foolish,” “silly,” or “ignorant.” It later developed numerous senses, including “showy,” “cowardly,” “delicate,” and “reserved,” before acquiring the favorable sense “fine or subtle” in the 15th century. Its now-common meanings “pleasant” and “kind” became established by the mid-18th century.

Etymology

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.

Nīcaea Latin Νῑ́καια Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# nice

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /naɪs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈnaɪ̯s/
**Frequency rank:** 196

## Meanings
1. Pleasant, enjoyable, or attractive.
2. Kind and friendly toward other people.
3. Polite and well-mannered.

## Examples
- We had a really nice time at the beach.
- She is a nice person who always helps her neighbours.
- It was nice of him to hold the door open for us.

## Synonyms
- delightful
- friendly
- kind
- lovely
- pleasant
- sweet

## Antonyms
- awful
- disgusting
- distasteful
- foul
- gross
- horrible
- horrid
- nasty
- naughty
- nauseating
- putrid
- rancid

## Related Forms
- nicety

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: Nīcaea
- Root: Νῑ́καια

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Nice was 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. The historical chain includes Latin Nīcaea and Ancient Greek Νῑ́καια. Modern senses include pleasant, enjoyable, or attractive and kind and friendly toward other people. The wider word family includes related forms such as nicety.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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