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What is the difference between nicely and nice?

nicely | nice | Derived terms |

Nice is a derived term of nicely.



In obsolete terms the difference between nicely and nice

is that nicely is fastidiously; carefully while nice is doubtful, as to the outcome; risky.

As an adjective nice is

silly, ignorant; foolish.

As an interjection nice is

used to signify a job well done.

As a verb nice is

to run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.

As a proper noun Nice is

a city in southeast France on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, capital of the department of Alpes-Maritimes.

nicely

English

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • (obsolete) Fastidiously; carefully.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.xii:
  • He lookt askew with his mistrustfull eyes, / And nicely trode, as thornes lay in his way, / Or that the flore to shrinke he did auyse [...].
  • Precisely; with fine discernment or judgement.
  • *1926 , (Ford Madox Ford), A Man Could Stand Up—'', Penguin 2012 (''Parade's End ), p. 580:
  • *:An army – especially in peace time – is a very complex and nicely adjusted affair […].
  • * 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 59:
  • Henry's carefully calibrated public appearances would present him as the wellspring of honour, justice and power, the unknowable, all-seeing sovereign who, as the Milanese ambassador Soncino nicely observed, appeared in public ‘like one at the top of a tower looking on at what is passing in the plain’.
  • Pleasantly; satisfactorily.
  • nice

    English

    Alternative forms

    * nyc (non-standard)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) nice, nyce, nys, from (etyl) nice, niche, .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (obsolete) Silly, ignorant; foolish.
  • *, II.2:
  • There is nothing he seemed to be more carefull of than of his honesty, and observe a kinde of decencie of his person, and orderly decorum in his habits, were it on foot or on horsebacke. He was exceeding nice in performing his word or promise.
  • * 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 in my dealings with the remainder.
  • (obsolete) Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict.
  • * 1818 , (Jane Austen), (Persuasion) :
  • 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 [[require, requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle.
  • * 1914 : (Saki), :
  • "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 os 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) Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky.
  • * 1598 , (William Shakespeare), , IV.1:
  • To set so rich a maine / On the nice hazard of one doubtfull houre? It were not good.
  • * 1822 , T. Creevey, Reminiscences , 28 Jul.:
  • It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.
  • Respectable; virtuous.
  • Pleasant, satisfactory.
  • * 1998 , (Baha Men) -
  • 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.
  • With "and", having intensive effect: extremely.
  • * , chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.}}
    Quotations
    * 1710 , (Jonathan Swift), 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 , , (The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case) *: Here's another nice mess you've gotten us into. * 1973 , Cockerel Chorus, Nice One, Cyril! *: Nice one, Cyril!
    Usage notes
    Sometimes used sarcastically to mean the opposite or to connote excess.
    Synonyms
    * charming, delightful, friendly, kind, lovely, pleasant, sweet * charming, delightful, lovely, pleasant * (having a pleasant taste or aroma) appetising/appetizing, delicious, moreish (informal), scrummy (slang), scrumptious (slang), tasty * (subtle) fine, subtle
    Antonyms
    * horrible, horrid, nasty * horrible, horrid, nasty * (having a pleasant taste or aroma) awful, disgusting, foul, horrible, horrid, nasty, nauseating, putrid, rancid, rank, sickening, distasteful, gross, unsatisfactory * naughty
    Derived terms
    * nice and + adjective * nice and easy * nice guy * nice guys finish last * nicely * niceness * nice round number * nicety * sugar and spice and everything nice

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (colloquial) Nicely.
  • Children, play nice .
    He dresses real nice .

    Interjection

    (en-interj)!
  • Used to signify a job well done.
  • Nice! I couldn't have done better.
  • Used to signify approval.
  • Is that your new car? Nice!

    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

    (nic)
  • (transitive, computing, Unix) To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.
  • Derived terms
    * renice