Note: these 'words' (valid or invalid) are all the permutations of the word nice. These words are obtained by scrambling the letters in nice.
Definitions and meaning of nice
nice
Alternative forms
nyc(non-standard)
noice (slang)
Pronunciation
enPR: nīs, IPA(key): /naɪs/
Rhymes: -aɪs
Etymology 1
From Middle Englishnyce, nice, nys, borrowed from Old Frenchnice, niche, nisce(“simple, foolish, ignorant”), from Latinnescius(“ignorant, not knowing”); compare nescire(“to know not, be ignorant of”), from ne(“not”) + scire(“to know”).
Adjective
nice (comparativenicer, superlativenicest)
Pleasant, satisfactory. [from 18th c.]
1998, Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out?
When the party was nice, the party was jumpin' (Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo)
2008, Rachel Cooke, The Guardian, 20 Apr.:
"What's difficult is when you think someone is saying something nice about you, but you're not quite sure."
Of a person: friendly, attractive. [from 18th c.]
Respectable; virtuous. [from 18th c.]
(with and)Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite. [from 18th c.]
1999, Joyce Crick, translating Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Oxford 2008, p.83:
But if I dispense with the dreams of neurotics, my main material, I cannot be too nice[transl. wählerisch] in my dealings with the remainder.
(obsolete) Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict. [16th-19th c.]
1818, Jane Austen, Persuasion, chapter 16:
"Good company requires only birth, education and manners, and with regard to education is not very nice. Birth and good manners are essential."
Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle. [from 16th c.]
1914: Saki, Laura:
"It's her own funeral, you know," said Sir Lulworth; "it's a nice point in etiquette how far one ought to show respect to one's own mortal remains."
1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992, p.131:
It would be a nice theological point to try and establish whether Ophis is Moslem or gnostic.
2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p.242:
Why it should have attained such longevity is a nice question.
(obsolete) Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
(obsolete) Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky. [16th-19th c.]
1822, T. Creevey, Reminiscences, 28 Jul.:
It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.
Usage notes
Sometimes used sarcastically to mean the opposite or to connote excess:
1710, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. XIV
I have strictly observed this rule, and my imagination this minute represents before me a certain great man famous for this talent, to the constant practice of which he owes his twenty years’ reputation of the most skilful head in England, for the management of nice affairs.
1930, H.M. Walker, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
Here's another nice mess you've gotten us into.
1973, Cockerel Chorus, Nice One, Cyril!
Nice one, Cyril!
Synonyms
(easy to like: person):charming, delightful, friendly, kind, 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
(respectable; virtuous):naughty
Derived terms
Related terms
nicety
Translations
Descendants
→ Dutch: nice
→ German: nice
→ Danish: nice
→ Swedish: najs, nice
→ Norwegian:
Norwegian Bokmål: nice
Adverb
nice (comparativenicer, superlativenicest)
(colloquial) Nicely.
Interjection
nice!
Used to signify a job well done.
Used to signify approval.
Translations
Noun
nice (uncountable)
niceness.
Etymology 2
Name of a Unix program used to invoke a script or program with a specified priority, with the implication that running at a lower priority is "nice" (kind, etc.) because it leaves more resources for others.
Verb
nice (third-person singular simple presentnices, present participlenicing, simple past and past participleniced)
(transitive, computing, Unix) To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.
Derived terms
renice
Further reading
nice in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
nice in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
nice at OneLook Dictionary Search
Nice at NiceDefinition.com
Anagrams
Ince, Niec, cien, cine, cine-, icen
Czech
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [ˈnɪt͡sɛ]
Rhymes: -ɪtsɛ
Hyphenation: ni‧ce
Noun
nice
dative/locative singular of nika
Anagrams
Ince
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Englishnice.
Adjective
nice (used only predicatively, not comparable)
(slang)nice
French
Etymology
From Old Frenchnice, inherited from Latinnescius.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /nis/
Adjective
nice (pluralnices)
(archaic) candid, naive
Further reading
“nice” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle English
Adjective
nice
Alternative form of nyce
Turkish
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkishنیچه (nice, “how much”), from Proto-Turkic*nēče, equative form of *nē(“what”). See ne(“what”), cognate to Karakhanidناجا (nēčē, “how much”).