nice

[nahys] /naɪs/
adjective, nicer, nicest.
1.
pleasing; agreeable; delightful:
a nice visit.
2.
amiably pleasant; kind:
They are always nice to strangers.
3.
characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy:
nice workmanship; a nice shot; a nice handling of a crisis.
4.
showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as instruments:
a job that requires nice measurements.
5.
minute, fine, or subtle:
a nice distinction.
6.
having or showing delicate, accurate perception:
a nice sense of color.
7.
refined in manners, language, etc.:
Nice people wouldn't do such things.
8.
virtuous; respectable; decorous:
a nice girl.
9.
suitable or proper:
That was not a nice remark.
10.
carefully neat in dress, habits, etc.
11.
(especially of food) dainty or delicate.
12.
having fastidious, finicky, or fussy tastes:
They're much too nice in their dining habits to enjoy an outdoor barbecue.
13.
Obsolete. coy, shy, or reluctant.
14.
Obsolete. unimportant; trivial.
15.
Obsolete, wanton.
Idioms
16.
make nice, to behave in a friendly, ingratiating, or conciliatory manner.
17.
nice and, sufficiently:
It's nice and warm in here.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English: foolish, stupid < Old French: silly, simple < Latin nescius ignorant, incapable, equivalent to ne- negative prefix + sci- (stem of scīre to know; see science) + -us adj. suffix
Related forms
nicely, adverb
niceness, noun
overnice, adjective
overnicely, adverb
overniceness, noun
unnice, adjective
unnicely, adverb
unniceness, noun
Can be confused
nice, niceness, nicety.
nice, Nice.
gneiss, nice (see usage note at the current entry)
Synonyms
2. friendly. 3. delicate, exact, exacting, critical, scrupulous, discriminating, discerning, particular. 7. polite. 10, 12. finical.
Antonyms
1. unpleasant. 2. unkind. 3. careless. 9. improper.
Usage note
The semantic history of nice is quite varied, as the etymology and the obsolete senses attest, and any attempt to insist on only one of its present senses as correct will not be in keeping with the facts of actual usage. If any criticism is valid, it might be that the word is used too often and has become a cliché lacking the qualities of precision and intensity that are embodied in many of its synonyms.
British Dictionary definitions for make nice

nice

/naɪs/
adjective
1.
pleasant or commendable: a nice day
2.
kind or friendly: a nice gesture of help
3.
good or satisfactory: they made a nice job of it
4.
subtle, delicate, or discriminating: a nice point in the argument
5.
precise; skilful: a nice fit
6.
(rare) fastidious; respectable: he was not too nice about his methods
7.
(obsolete)
  1. foolish or ignorant
  2. delicate
  3. shy; modest
  4. wanton
8.
nice and, pleasingly: it's nice and cool
Derived Forms
nicely, adverb
niceness, noun
nicish, adjective
Word Origin
C13 (originally: foolish): from Old French nice simple, silly, from Latin nescius ignorant, from nescīre to be ignorant; see nescience

Nice

/French nis/
noun
1.
a city in SE France, on the Mediterranean: a leading resort of the French Riviera; founded by Phocaeans from Marseille in about the 3rd century bc. Pop: 342 738 (1999)

NICE

/naɪs/
noun acronym
1.
(in Britain) National Institute for Clinical Excellence: a body established in 1999 to provide authoritative guidance on current best practice in medicine and to promote high-quality cost-effective medical treatment in the NHS
Word Origin and History for make nice

nice

adj.

late 13c., "foolish, stupid, senseless," from Old French nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from Latin nescius "ignorant, unaware," literally "not-knowing," from ne- "not" (see un-) + stem of scire "to know" (see science). "The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj." [Weekley] -- from "timid" (pre-1300); to "fussy, fastidious" (late 14c.); to "dainty, delicate" (c.1400); to "precise, careful" (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to "agreeable, delightful" (1769); to "kind, thoughtful" (1830).

"In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken." [OED]
By 1926, it was pronounced "too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness." [Fowler]
"I am sure," cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should I not call it so?"
"Very true," said Henry, "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." [Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey," 1803]

make nice in Culture
Nice [(nees)]

City in southeastern France on the Mediterranean Sea.

Note: Nice is the most famous resort of the French Riviera.
Slang definitions & phrases for make nice

make nice

verb phrase

To pet; cosset, caress: Public officials make nice to politicians they cannot stand because they need their goodwill

[1970s+; perhaps fr Yiddish syntax]


nice

Related Terms

make nice


Related Abbreviations for make nice

NICE

National Institute for Consumer Education