adj. nic·er, nic·est 1. Pleasing and agreeable in nature: had a nice time; a nice person. 2. Having a pleasant or attractive appearance: a nice dress; a nice face. 3. Exhibiting courtesy and politeness: a nice gesture. 4. Of good character and reputation; respectable. 5. Overdelicate or fastidious; fussy. 6. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle: a nice distinction; a nice sense of style. 7. Done with delicacy and skill: a nice bit of craft. 8. Used as an intensive with and: nice and warm. 9. Obsolete a. Wanton; profligate: "For when mine hours / Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives / Of me for jests" (Shakespeare). b. Affectedly modest; coy: "Ere ... / The nice Morn on th' Indian steep, / From her cabin'd loop-hole peep" (John Milton). [Middle English, foolish, from Old French, from Latin nescius, ignorant, from nescīre, to be ignorant; see NESCIENCE.] nicely adv. niceness n. |
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