see|Nice
English

Etymology
Latin nescius = "not knowing".

Original usage: "A nice distinction", meaning a distinction so subtle it would only be made by the ignorant. Similar in meaning to the phrase "a moot point". The illogical association of "nice" with good feelings probably arose from the loss of the original meaning and a false interpretation of the word's usage.

Pronunciation
AHD|nīs, IPA|/naɪs/, SAMPA|/naIs/
audio|en-us-nice.ogg|Audio (US)
rhymes|aɪs

Adjective
en-adj|nic|er

1. Of a thing or person or event, pleasant, pretty:

#: What a nice dress!

1. Admirable, enviable:

#: A third-term senator holds a nice level of seniority.

1. Innocent; gentle; distinguished by perceived class or virtue:

#: What is a nice person like you doing in a place like this?

1. show|Showing or require|requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle

#: a nice distinction

1. neat; elegantly succinct:

#: Fermat believed he had a nice proof of his theorem.

1. Bordering on failure or disaster; succeeding by the narrowest of margins:

#: "It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life" -- The Duke of Wellington shortly after the Battle of Waterloo, 1815.

1. colloquial With "and", excellent, pleasing:

#: The soup is nice and hot.

Sometimes used sarcastically to mean the opposite or to connote excess.

Synonyms
(easy to like: person): charming, delightful, lovely, pleasant, sweet
(easy to like: thing): charming, delightful, lovely, pleasant
(having a pleasant taste or aroma): appetising/appetizing, delicious, moreish (informal), scrummy (slang), scrumptious (slang), tasty
(subtle): fine, subtle

Antonyms
(easy to like: person): horrible, horrid, nasty
(easy to like: thing): horrible, horrid, nasty
(having a pleasant taste or aroma): awful, disgusting, foul, horrible, horrid, nasty, nauseating, putrid, rancid, rank, sickening,distasteful,gross, unsatisfactory
(subtle):

Related terms
nicely
niceness
nicety

Translations
trans-top|easy to like
Arabic: Arab|حس� IPAchar|(ħássan)
Chinese: zh-ts|�好�|�好� (m�ih�ode)
Czech: hezký, p�íjemný, milý
Dutch: aardig, aardige, sympathiek, sympathieke, leuk, leuke, aangenaam, aangename, fijn, fijne
Finnish: kiva#Finnish|kiva (colloquial), mukava, sympaattinen (of people)
French: (person) gentil m, gentille f, sympathique m|f, sympa (informal) m and f; (thing) agréable
German: freundlich, sympathisch, lieb, nett
Greek: καλ�� (kalós) m
Hebrew: he-translation|נ���|nekhmád m, he-translation|נ����|nekhmadá f
Hungarian: kellemes, szép
trans-mid
Italian: (person) simpatico m, simpatica f, (thing) piacevole m and f
Japanese: 快� (�����, kokoroyoi)
Korean: �� (joheun)
Norwegian: hyggelig, sympatisk
Polish: mi�y, przyjemny
Portuguese: bonito, agradável, simpático
Russian: мил�й (mílyj) of a person, п�и��н�й (prijátnyj) of a thing
Slovak: príjemný, p�kný
Spanish: simpático m, simpática f, agradable, amable
Swedish: sympatisk
Turkish: ho�, güzel, iyi
trans-bottom

trans-top|pleasant to look at
Czech: hezký m, p�kný m, krásný m,
Dutch: aantrekkelijk, aantrekkelijke, mooi, mooie, knap, knappe
French: beau m, belle f, joli m, jolie f
Greek: ��αία� (oréas) m, ��αία (oréa) f, ��αίο (oréo) n
Hebrew: he-translation|�פ�|yafé m, he-translation|�פ�|yafá f, he-translation|נע�|na`é m, he-translation|נע�|na`á f
trans-mid
Italian: bello m, bella f
Norwegian: pen
Russian: �импа�и�н�й (simpatí�nyj)
Spanish: bonito m, bonita f, bello m, bella f
trans-bottom

trans-top|having a pleasant taste or aroma
Dutch: lekker, lekkere, aangenaam, aangename
French: bon m, bonne f
German: lecker, angenehm
Greek: ν���ιμο� (nóstimo) m, ν���ιμη (nóstimi) f, ν���ιμο (nóstimo) n (taste)
Hebrew: he-translation|נע��|na`ím m, he-translation|נע���|ne`imá f
trans-mid
Italian: buono m, buona f
Polish: mi�y
Spanish: rico, bueno
trans-bottom

trans-top|showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment
Dutch: fijn, fijne
German: super, schön, wunderbar, toll, geil
trans-mid
Norwegian: fin
Russian: �онкий (tónkij)
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked
<!--Remove this section once all of the translations below have been moved into the tables above.-->
checktrans

ttbc|Bulgarian: п�и��ен, доб��, ��бав
ttbc|Chinese: �人� (yírén de)
ttbc|German: schön, aufmerksam
ttbc|Irish: deas
ttbc|Vietnamese: �ẹp

Interjection
nice!

1. Used to signify a job well done.

#: Nice! I couldn't have done better.

Category:English heteronyms
Category:English interjections
Category:Positive words

et:nice
el:nice
fr:nice
ko:nice
io:nice
id:nice
it:nice
lt:nice
hu:nice
ja:nice
pl:nice
pt:nice
ru:nice
simple:nice
fi:nice
vi:nice
tr:nice
zh:nice

• 2007-12-13 08:23 - AutoFormat - template -mf +{{m|f}}

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