| 释义 |
adjective nʌɪsnaɪs 1Giving pleasure or satisfaction; pleasant or attractive. Example sentencesExamples - A nice attractive business district around the station was a far cry from Detroit.
- It's nice to entertain the crowd and I certainly try to do that if I get in, but that's not the main focus.
- It was nice to see them and we had a pleasant afternoon and evening.
- The majority of men will always find images of attractive women nice to look at.
- If it has attractive art and nice looking parts I'm much more inclined to give it a try.
- I still think it must be nice to be so accepted, so certain of who and what you are, but that's not me.
- By way of an experiment you could always try being nice to us - you might be pleasantly surprised.
- A one-day game is like a nice film - briefly satisfying, but seldom remaining long in the memory.
- She's one of those fun, lovely, nice to know, but never-to-be-relied-upon types.
- Isn't there something nice and satisfying about the feel of a new roll of kitchen foil?
- Previously for coastal France I've only been to the Med and it is nice to see waves again; they make a beach complete.
- While it would be nice to be able to cure everything with a nice, neat, simple solution, life is not like that.
- Jackson gave the thumbs up sign, and let a nice, big, satisfied grin sweep over his face.
- While it would have been nice to get two wins in Victoria, Mason was satisfied with his team's play.
- We didn't win but it was nice to have been accepted on our first attempts.
- The film is billed as a romance, but the two travellers spend too long exchanging pleasantries and being nice to each other to get any sparks going.
- If estate agents were in charge, there'd be none of this - it'd be something nice, pleasant and attractive.
- Individually I dare say they are all sweet and lovely and nice to their kids and help the old folks across the roads.
- It would be nice to make the town more attractive to its residents.
- Simply add a spoonful or two of yoghurt to your green lettuce to get a nice quick and satisfying snack.
Synonyms enjoyable, pleasant, pleasurable, agreeable, delightful, satisfying, gratifying, acceptable, to one's liking, entertaining, amusing, diverting, marvellous, good Scottish bonny, couthy Jamaican irie informal lovely, great North American informal neat South African informal lekker, mooi - 1.1 (of a person) good-natured; kind.
he's a nicer man than Mark Joe had been very nice to her Example sentencesExamples - People are very nice to you and you get a chance to live a very interesting and exciting life.
- I wasn't going to be mean, because he was too nice of a person to make a snappy comment towards.
- The girls loved Chris, the guys were cool with him, and he was relatively nice to every person he met.
- I think people are too nice to make too big a thing about it.
- Ray says he's a nice guy, but people are starting to get upset with him because he never turns off his cellphone.
- This guy who I keep telling you about, he's nice to me again and talks to me like such a good friend.
- People being nice to me, pretty girls trying to be my friend, it didn't happen every day.
- I mean, if you look like a nice guy, people are going to trust you.
- People were nice to me; they smiled, they laughed, they asked me how I was.
- I used to think that everything could be solved by people being nice to each other.
- His writing is amazing and he is the first blogger I read - but not a nice guy on a personal level.
- I was very nice to the guy who called, after all, he was just the survey taker.
- How could an evil guy like Prince Jonas be friends with such a nice person as Adrian?
- She was so nice to people she met too, signing autographs for everyone.
- There's a saying that if someone is nice to you and mean to the waiter, then he's not really a very nice person.
- People were nice to me and also I am always good to the Japanese people when they come to America.
- I got it from a friend of mine; she was really nice to make it for me.
- He was especially nice to Mimi, whom he treated with a gentle solicitude both on and off camera, exactly how he must have been with Takako.
- They're always nice to all of us and they try to understand our problems and help us deal with them.
- But they're so nice to be around and I don't feel bad about myself when they're near.
Synonyms pleasant, likeable, agreeable, personable, charming, delightful, amiable, affable, friendly, kindly, genial, congenial, good-natured, engaging, gracious, sympathetic, understanding, compassionate, good - 1.2ironic Not good; unpleasant.
that's a nice way to come into my kitchen—no greeting! Example sentencesExamples - Irony of ironies the painting is now in the Tate Britain Lost Property Office - nice touch.
- Well that's a nice way to greet me when I've flown all the way from Perth!
2(especially of a difference) slight or subtle. there is a nice distinction between self-sacrifice and martyrdom Example sentencesExamples - It is not the sort of nonsense that can arise even in the best system of law out of the need to draw nice distinctions between borderline cases.
- In fact, I doubt that the nice distinction which Mr Mostyn sought to draw will be capable of identification in most cases.
Synonyms subtle, fine, delicate, minute, precise, exact, accurate, strict, close, careful, meticulous, rigorous, scrupulous, ultra-fine - 2.1 Requiring careful consideration.
Example sentencesExamples - I think you really made a nice point.
- It is a nice point, and it is for that reason that I am anxious to obtain your opinion.
3archaic Fastidious; scrupulous. Example sentencesExamples - But she is nice and coy.
- The figure of Justice, you know, is represented with a balance to weigh out to every one his due, with nice and scrupulous exactness.
Synonyms scrupulous, punctilious, painstaking, meticulous, assiduous, sedulous, perfectionist, fussy, finicky, dainty, over-particular
Phrases informal Be pleasant or polite to someone, typically in a hypocritical way. the seat next him was empty, so he wasn't required to make nice with a stranger Example sentencesExamples - Instead of training him in American football - and time zones - and encouraging him to read USA Today - training him to make nice, basically - they'd trained him to do his job.
- All of this is very important because the Democratic party will be a cracked vessel without both camps coming together, not to agree on everything or make nice, but to build a powerful coalition.
- The two pretend to make nice during a break from a press junket, while hidden slights and resentments come bubbling up to the surface and stretch their guise of polite conversation long past its breaking point.
- Bush and Fox were making nice at the recent Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, about Fox's immigration policy pretenses, with ‘free trade’ issues pushed to the backest of burners.
- Everyone was making nice at the White House Christmas party for the press.
- As far as I can tell, Wilgoren is following one of the unwritten rules of the trade: romanticize Vietnam-era leftism as much as you want, but don't make nice with the aggressive leftists of today.
- Meanwhile, one sees constant photo-ops of the President making nice with the Saudis, who have reasons of their own to worry about destabilization, while Kurdish leaders are met with in secret and at a much lower level.
- Well, the two will have to make nice on ‘The Simple Life 4.’
- And then, Wal-Mart fights back, and we'll tell you how the retailer is trying to make nice with thousands of Californians unhappy with its expansion.
- I've tried, largely in vain, to make nice with her.
Satisfactorily in terms of the quality described. it's nice and warm in here Example sentencesExamples - I made a nice and easy swing in slow tempo, and there was no other way but to hit the ball perfectly well.
- The mash was nice and creamy, but not pulped to mush, and then there were some crunchy sweet potato crisps to top it all off.
- Harry Cat was still tucked up nice and warm, sleeping a deep and almost twitch-less sleep.
- Afterwards my sister took the younguns home, where they got off to bed nice and early.
- The seats are nice and comfortable, with the sports seats on most models featuring extra side bolsters.
- That is nice and clean, except none of that has happened in the Ching Cheong case.
- I wanted to stay inside this shop forever as it was nice and warm and dry inside.
- Now the book's no work of art, but it's certainly tightly plotted and nice and tense, which is all it set out to be.
- I look at the pretty couples, nice and happy around me, and I want to be part of that crowd.
- She had smiled, and it was nice and informal, but actually there is something slightly regal about her.
informal Used to express approval. thunderous applause and cries of ‘Nice one!’ Example sentencesExamples - But, y'know, nice one Jimbo and all that, but who cares?
- But when you're walking down the street in Liverpool people you don't know shout out, ‘alright Liz, nice one girl’ and give you the thumbs up.
- That made me laugh Grant, nice one, I'm going to start using that like the ‘prison style’ phrase.
- Paul Royston recently supplied the lads with new track suits and training jackets, nice one Paul.
- A top collection and very cool show, nice one Paul!
- His wife looked exhausted apparently… nice one Michael!
- Looks like the site is hosted by Abe Abstract Dynamics Burmeister - nice one.
- I think this a really interesting topic - nice one!
- Heh - no sooner do I idly wish out loud for a potential hacker version of the Caesar blog then I get mailed this by the man himself - nice one, Caesar.
- Randy - so, software plus a region 1 dongle could be the answer… nice one!
A polite formula used on being introduced to someone. Example sentencesExamples - ‘It's nice to meet you also,’ Alcott said, reaching for Harry's hand.
- ‘Hi, nice to meet you,’ Lizzie said nodding, although she wasn't looking at them.
- I nodded and made the polite response, ‘It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Scotia.’
- Well my reply is, I don't know James - and it is nice to meet you, by the way - but everyone says he is skeptical.
- He sticks out his hand out towards Ella, ‘Hi, I'm Shaun, Adam's cousin, nice to meet you.’
- As you shake hands, repeat the person's name to lock it into your memory: ‘Hi, Tiffany, so nice to meet you!’
- ‘It's nice to meet you,’ she said with all the anger out of her voice.
- ‘It's nice to meet you, Gavin,’ I smiled; I couldn't seem to stop smiling at that moment.
- ‘Hey Geoff, nice to meet you,’ Gabe said, extending his hand towards him.
- ‘It's nice to meet you too,’ Ally replied, trying not to be overwhelmed by Pam's presence.
informal Used to express approval of a task well done. ‘You did a good job today—nice work, James.’ Example sentencesExamples - Oh, Photoshop Elements team: nice work removing the undo icon from the layer styles menu.
- So Horner did hold on for a top ten finish, nice work that.
- ‘Not bad, I'll see if the evidence matches up with that… nice work Aimée,’ he said with a weary smile.
- But nice work in the last couple of tribal councils.
- Looks like you dudes have been busy blogging without me… nice work!
- People in the parasite world have said: Oh fantastic, nice work, it's great to see something new and something different.
- I heard they're even in the process of doing some cool music giveaways… nice work kids!
- My other teammate Tim had hung tough as usual with the front group, and ended up with 7th place, nice work, hotshot.
- Thank you for joining us, very nice work on a very comprehensive piece here.
- Very nice work MS… a truly masterful, insightful and down right useful page.
nice work if you can get it informal Used to express envy of what is perceived to be another person's more favourable situation, which they seem to have attained with little effort. the princess was on her way to some lavish dinner—nice work if you can get it, I thought Example sentencesExamples - It's nice work if you can get it - the pay's good, and you don't feel like you're doing anything very wrong.
- He or she will work a four-day week and the salary is around £80,000 a year - nice work if you can get it.
- The irony of Hit List is that relative to a lot of the soulless, depressing jobs people do in a consumer society, assassination really can seem like nice work if you can get it.
- It occurs to me, not for the first time, that this is nice work if you can get it, a job in which you are putting in unusually long hours if you stay until 1pm, not exactly having started at the crack of dawn.
- That's astonishing, nice work if you can get it.
- The UK's five biggest banks made a combined profit of £30 billion last year, which sounds like nice work if you can get it!
- Being a film critic is nice work if you can get it, but sometimes hazard pay seems more than fair.
- And, of course, he got so much dosh for playing God - nice work if you can get it - that all those millions mean he can have exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants it.
- Don't get me wrong, it's nice work if you can get it.
- Most advisers pocket both payments, which is nice work if you can get it.
Derivatives adjective I never did a niceish picture without a letter from him, warm-hearted and unstinted in praise. Example sentencesExamples - Backing up regularly would be niceish I guess, in the event of a hard drive failure (which I have experienced several times).
- I want to hit one or two of the niceish restaurants but other than that I am willing to cheap out on food in favour of more beer spending.
- After taking a few niceish photographs I moved on to Skukuza for Breakfast.
- I plan to cook for myself, which I enjoy doing, but I reckon you'd need that much to have three niceish meals a day.
Origin Middle English (in the sense 'stupid'): from Old French, from Latin nescius 'ignorant', from nescire 'not know'. Other early senses included 'coy, reserved', giving rise to 'fastidious, scrupulous': this led both to the sense 'fine, subtle' (regarded by some as the ‘correct’ sense), and to the main current senses. In medieval English nice meant ‘foolish, silly, ignorant’, from its Latin source nescius ‘ignorant’. It developed a range of largely negative senses, from ‘dissolute’, ‘ostentatious, showy’, ‘unmanly, cowardly’, and ‘delicate, fragile’ to ‘strange, rare’, and ‘coy, reserved’. In Love's Labour Lost Shakespeare talks of ‘nice wenches’, meaning ‘disreputable women’. The word was first used in the more positive sense ‘fine or subtle’ (as in a nice distinction) in the 16th century, and the current main meanings, ‘pleasant’ and ‘kind’, seem to have been in common use from the mid 18th century. This example from a letter written in 1769 sounds very contemporary: ‘I intend to dine with Mrs. Borgrave, and in the evening to take a nice walk.’ The development of the word's senses from negative to positive is similar to that of pretty. Nice guys finish last is credited to Leo Durocher, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team from 1951 to 1954. In his 1975 autobiography Nice Guys Finish Last he is quoted as saying of a rival team: ‘Take a look at them. All nice guys. They'll finish last. Nice guys. Finish last.’
Rhymes advice, bice, Brice, choc ice, concise, dice, entice, gneiss, ice, imprecise, lice, mice, precise, price, rice, sice, slice, speiss, spice, splice, suffice, syce, thrice, top-slice, trice, twice, underprice, vice, Zeiss proper nounniːsnis A resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy; population 348,721 (2007).
Rhymes anis, apiece, Berenice, caprice, cassis, cease, coulisse, crease, Dumfries, fils, fleece, geese, grease, Greece, kris, lease, Lucrece, MacNeice, Matisse, McAleese, niece, obese, peace, pelisse, police, Rees, Rhys, set piece, sublease, surcease, two-piece, underlease abbreviationnʌɪs (in England and Wales) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
adjectivenaɪsnīs 1Pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. that wasn't very nice of him Jeremy had been very nice to her Example sentencesExamples - If estate agents were in charge, there'd be none of this - it'd be something nice, pleasant and attractive.
- While it would be nice to be able to cure everything with a nice, neat, simple solution, life is not like that.
- The majority of men will always find images of attractive women nice to look at.
- A nice attractive business district around the station was a far cry from Detroit.
- By way of an experiment you could always try being nice to us - you might be pleasantly surprised.
- Jackson gave the thumbs up sign, and let a nice, big, satisfied grin sweep over his face.
- Isn't there something nice and satisfying about the feel of a new roll of kitchen foil?
- Simply add a spoonful or two of yoghurt to your green lettuce to get a nice quick and satisfying snack.
- I still think it must be nice to be so accepted, so certain of who and what you are, but that's not me.
- The film is billed as a romance, but the two travellers spend too long exchanging pleasantries and being nice to each other to get any sparks going.
- A one-day game is like a nice film - briefly satisfying, but seldom remaining long in the memory.
- It's nice to entertain the crowd and I certainly try to do that if I get in, but that's not the main focus.
- Individually I dare say they are all sweet and lovely and nice to their kids and help the old folks across the roads.
- Previously for coastal France I've only been to the Med and it is nice to see waves again; they make a beach complete.
- We didn't win but it was nice to have been accepted on our first attempts.
- It was nice to see them and we had a pleasant afternoon and evening.
- She's one of those fun, lovely, nice to know, but never-to-be-relied-upon types.
- While it would have been nice to get two wins in Victoria, Mason was satisfied with his team's play.
- If it has attractive art and nice looking parts I'm much more inclined to give it a try.
- It would be nice to make the town more attractive to its residents.
Synonyms enjoyable, pleasant, pleasurable, agreeable, delightful, satisfying, gratifying, acceptable, to one's liking, entertaining, amusing, diverting, marvellous, good - 1.1 (of a person) pleasant in manner; good-natured; kind.
Example sentencesExamples - But they're so nice to be around and I don't feel bad about myself when they're near.
- There's a saying that if someone is nice to you and mean to the waiter, then he's not really a very nice person.
- He was especially nice to Mimi, whom he treated with a gentle solicitude both on and off camera, exactly how he must have been with Takako.
- She was so nice to people she met too, signing autographs for everyone.
- They're always nice to all of us and they try to understand our problems and help us deal with them.
- This guy who I keep telling you about, he's nice to me again and talks to me like such a good friend.
- Ray says he's a nice guy, but people are starting to get upset with him because he never turns off his cellphone.
- People were nice to me and also I am always good to the Japanese people when they come to America.
- I was very nice to the guy who called, after all, he was just the survey taker.
- How could an evil guy like Prince Jonas be friends with such a nice person as Adrian?
- People were nice to me; they smiled, they laughed, they asked me how I was.
- People being nice to me, pretty girls trying to be my friend, it didn't happen every day.
- I think people are too nice to make too big a thing about it.
- People are very nice to you and you get a chance to live a very interesting and exciting life.
- The girls loved Chris, the guys were cool with him, and he was relatively nice to every person he met.
- I wasn't going to be mean, because he was too nice of a person to make a snappy comment towards.
- I got it from a friend of mine; she was really nice to make it for me.
- His writing is amazing and he is the first blogger I read - but not a nice guy on a personal level.
- I mean, if you look like a nice guy, people are going to trust you.
- I used to think that everything could be solved by people being nice to each other.
Synonyms pleasant, likeable, agreeable, personable, charming, delightful, amiable, affable, friendly, kindly, genial, congenial, good-natured, engaging, gracious, sympathetic, understanding, compassionate, good
2Fine or subtle. Example sentencesExamples - In fact, I doubt that the nice distinction which Mr Mostyn sought to draw will be capable of identification in most cases.
- It is not the sort of nonsense that can arise even in the best system of law out of the need to draw nice distinctions between borderline cases.
Synonyms subtle, fine, delicate, minute, precise, exact, accurate, strict, close, careful, meticulous, rigorous, scrupulous, ultra-fine - 2.1 Requiring careful thought or attention.
Example sentencesExamples - It is a nice point, and it is for that reason that I am anxious to obtain your opinion.
- I think you really made a nice point.
3archaic Fastidious; scrupulous. Example sentencesExamples - But she is nice and coy.
- The figure of Justice, you know, is represented with a balance to weigh out to every one his due, with nice and scrupulous exactness.
Synonyms scrupulous, punctilious, painstaking, meticulous, assiduous, sedulous, perfectionist, fussy, finicky, dainty, over-particular
Usage Nice originally had a number of meanings, including ‘fine, subtle, discriminating’ (they are not very nice in regard to the company they keep); ‘refined in taste, hard to please, fastidious’ (for company so nice, the finest caterers would be engaged); and ‘precise, strict’ (she has a nice sense of decorum). The overuse of nice to mean ‘pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory’ has rendered the word rather trite: we had a very nice time this is a nice room he's a nice boy Phrases informal Be pleasant or polite to someone, typically in a hypocritical way. the seat next to him was empty, so he wasn't required to make nice with a stranger Example sentencesExamples - As far as I can tell, Wilgoren is following one of the unwritten rules of the trade: romanticize Vietnam-era leftism as much as you want, but don't make nice with the aggressive leftists of today.
- Meanwhile, one sees constant photo-ops of the President making nice with the Saudis, who have reasons of their own to worry about destabilization, while Kurdish leaders are met with in secret and at a much lower level.
- And then, Wal-Mart fights back, and we'll tell you how the retailer is trying to make nice with thousands of Californians unhappy with its expansion.
- Instead of training him in American football - and time zones - and encouraging him to read USA Today - training him to make nice, basically - they'd trained him to do his job.
- The two pretend to make nice during a break from a press junket, while hidden slights and resentments come bubbling up to the surface and stretch their guise of polite conversation long past its breaking point.
- Well, the two will have to make nice on ‘The Simple Life 4.’
- Bush and Fox were making nice at the recent Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, about Fox's immigration policy pretenses, with ‘free trade’ issues pushed to the backest of burners.
- Everyone was making nice at the White House Christmas party for the press.
- All of this is very important because the Democratic party will be a cracked vessel without both camps coming together, not to agree on everything or make nice, but to build a powerful coalition.
- I've tried, largely in vain, to make nice with her.
Satisfactorily or adequately in terms of the quality described. it's nice and warm in here Example sentencesExamples - Afterwards my sister took the younguns home, where they got off to bed nice and early.
- Now the book's no work of art, but it's certainly tightly plotted and nice and tense, which is all it set out to be.
- That is nice and clean, except none of that has happened in the Ching Cheong case.
- She had smiled, and it was nice and informal, but actually there is something slightly regal about her.
- I made a nice and easy swing in slow tempo, and there was no other way but to hit the ball perfectly well.
- I wanted to stay inside this shop forever as it was nice and warm and dry inside.
- The mash was nice and creamy, but not pulped to mush, and then there were some crunchy sweet potato crisps to top it all off.
- Harry Cat was still tucked up nice and warm, sleeping a deep and almost twitch-less sleep.
- I look at the pretty couples, nice and happy around me, and I want to be part of that crowd.
- The seats are nice and comfortable, with the sports seats on most models featuring extra side bolsters.
1informal Expressing approval or commendation. Example sentencesExamples - Heh - no sooner do I idly wish out loud for a potential hacker version of the Caesar blog then I get mailed this by the man himself - nice one, Caesar.
- That made me laugh Grant, nice one, I'm going to start using that like the ‘prison style’ phrase.
- Paul Royston recently supplied the lads with new track suits and training jackets, nice one Paul.
- But when you're walking down the street in Liverpool people you don't know shout out, ‘alright Liz, nice one girl’ and give you the thumbs up.
- I think this a really interesting topic - nice one!
- A top collection and very cool show, nice one Paul!
- But, y'know, nice one Jimbo and all that, but who cares?
- Looks like the site is hosted by Abe Abstract Dynamics Burmeister - nice one.
- Randy - so, software plus a region 1 dongle could be the answer… nice one!
- His wife looked exhausted apparently… nice one Michael!
- 1.1Used sarcastically to comment on an inept act.
oh, nice one, she put her finger up to her eye and tugged at the skin Example sentencesExamples - A big thanks to whoever that was who woke me up at 4ish this afternoon: nice one.
- He had failed to remember that it was Mother's Day - nice one mate.
A polite formula used on being introduced to someone. Example sentencesExamples - ‘It's nice to meet you also,’ Alcott said, reaching for Harry's hand.
- Well my reply is, I don't know James - and it is nice to meet you, by the way - but everyone says he is skeptical.
- ‘Hi, nice to meet you,’ Lizzie said nodding, although she wasn't looking at them.
- As you shake hands, repeat the person's name to lock it into your memory: ‘Hi, Tiffany, so nice to meet you!’
- ‘It's nice to meet you, Gavin,’ I smiled; I couldn't seem to stop smiling at that moment.
- ‘It's nice to meet you too,’ Ally replied, trying not to be overwhelmed by Pam's presence.
- ‘Hey Geoff, nice to meet you,’ Gabe said, extending his hand towards him.
- ‘It's nice to meet you,’ she said with all the anger out of her voice.
- I nodded and made the polite response, ‘It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Scotia.’
- He sticks out his hand out towards Ella, ‘Hi, I'm Shaun, Adam's cousin, nice to meet you.’
informal Expressing approval of a task well done. Example sentencesExamples - But nice work in the last couple of tribal councils.
- I heard they're even in the process of doing some cool music giveaways… nice work kids!
- People in the parasite world have said: Oh fantastic, nice work, it's great to see something new and something different.
- Very nice work MS… a truly masterful, insightful and down right useful page.
- So Horner did hold on for a top ten finish, nice work that.
- Looks like you dudes have been busy blogging without me… nice work!
- Thank you for joining us, very nice work on a very comprehensive piece here.
- My other teammate Tim had hung tough as usual with the front group, and ended up with 7th place, nice work, hotshot.
- ‘Not bad, I'll see if the evidence matches up with that… nice work Aimée,’ he said with a weary smile.
- Oh, Photoshop Elements team: nice work removing the undo icon from the layer styles menu.
nice work if you can get it informal Used to express envy of what is perceived to be another person's more favorable situation, especially if they seem to have reached it with little effort. Example sentencesExamples - It's nice work if you can get it - the pay's good, and you don't feel like you're doing anything very wrong.
- Most advisers pocket both payments, which is nice work if you can get it.
- The irony of Hit List is that relative to a lot of the soulless, depressing jobs people do in a consumer society, assassination really can seem like nice work if you can get it.
- And, of course, he got so much dosh for playing God - nice work if you can get it - that all those millions mean he can have exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants it.
- Being a film critic is nice work if you can get it, but sometimes hazard pay seems more than fair.
- He or she will work a four-day week and the salary is around £80,000 a year - nice work if you can get it.
- That's astonishing, nice work if you can get it.
- Don't get me wrong, it's nice work if you can get it.
- It occurs to me, not for the first time, that this is nice work if you can get it, a job in which you are putting in unusually long hours if you stay until 1pm, not exactly having started at the crack of dawn.
- The UK's five biggest banks made a combined profit of £30 billion last year, which sounds like nice work if you can get it!
Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘stupid’): from Old French, from Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, from nescire ‘not know’. Other early senses included ‘coy, reserved’, giving rise to ‘fastidious, scrupulous’: this led both to the sense ‘fine, subtle’ (regarded by some as the ‘correct’ sense), and to the main current senses. proper nounnisnēs A resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy; population 348,721 (2007).
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