Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

nice

/naɪ̯s/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.37 in modern English

Syllables
nice
IPA
/naɪ̯s/
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Pleasant, satisfactory, complimentary.

Informal

adj

Of a person: friendly, attractive.

Informal

adj

Respectable; virtuous.

adj

Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite.

Informal

adj

Giving a favorable review or having a favorable impression.

Informal

adj

Showing refinement or delicacy, proper, seemly

Informal

adj

Silly, ignorant; foolish.

Obsolete

adj

Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy.

Archaic

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English nyce, nice, nys, from Old French nice, niche, nisce (“simple, foolish, ignorant”), from Latin nescius (“ignorant, not knowing”); compare nesciō (“to know not, be ignorant of”), from ne (“not”) + sciō (“to know”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *skey-, nyce, nice, nescius, Nīcaea, Νῑ́καια

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /naɪ̯s/
  • British English: /naɪ̯s/

Usage

Inflected Forms

nicer (comparative) nicest (superlative) nyc (alternative, nonstandard) noice (alternative, slang) nice! (canonical) nices (present, singular) nicing (participle, present) niced (participle, past) niced (past)

Derived Forms

nicefem niceish niceling nicely nicen niceness nicery nicety Niceville outnice overnice seminice

Phrases

buy nice or buy twice have a nice day have a nice day syndrome have a nice life make nice Minnesota nice nice and + adjective nice and easy

Frequently Paired Words

nicety Nicaea Nicaean

Synonyms

Nicaea charming delightful friendly kind lovely pleasant sweet appetising appetizing delicious moreish

Homonyms

gneiss niece

Antonyms

horrible horrid nasty awful disgusting foul nauseating putrid rancid rank sickening distasteful

Rhymes With

price ice advice twice vice device rice precise mice slice spice dice

Questions

How do you pronounce nice?
The recorded pronunciation is /naɪ̯s/.
What does nice mean?
Pleasant, satisfactory, complimentary.
Where does nice come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce nice

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “nice”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/naɪ̯s/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “nice”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “nice” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.