"nicety" meaning in All languages combined

See nicety on Wiktionary

Adjective [English]

IPA: /ˈnaɪsɪti/ Audio: En-us-nicety.oga
Etymology: From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -ty. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|nicetee}} Middle English nicetee, {{der|en|fro|niceté||simpleness, foolishness}} Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), {{af|en|nice|-ty}} nice + -ty
  1. Behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way that is seemingly, or perceived as, pleasant or agreeable. Derived forms: social nicety, to a nicety Translations (small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary): изтънченост (iztǎnčenost) [feminine] (Bulgarian), 考究 (Chinese Mandarin), 细节 (xìjié) (Chinese Mandarin), jemnůstka [feminine] (Czech), jemnost [feminine] (Czech), finesa [feminine] (Czech), délicatesse (French), beaichte [feminine] (Irish), cruinneas [masculine] (Irish), дета́ль (detálʹ) [feminine] (Russian) Translations (subtlety or precision of use): finesa [feminine] (Czech), přesnost [feminine] (Czech), detail [masculine] (Czech), subtilité (French), 微妙 (bimyō) (alt: びみょう) (Japanese), то́чность (tóčnostʹ) [feminine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-adj-Fz~Kz5rU

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈnaɪsɪti/ Audio: En-us-nicety.oga Forms: niceties [plural]
Etymology: From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -ty. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|nicetee}} Middle English nicetee, {{der|en|fro|niceté||simpleness, foolishness}} Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), {{af|en|nice|-ty}} nice + -ty Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} nicety (countable and uncountable, plural niceties)
  1. A small detail or distinction. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-noun-NF1RKC8W
  2. Subtlety or precision of use; exactness; preciseness. Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-noun-W1UDGjIB Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ty, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Russian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 2 59 17 12 2 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ty: 12 6 46 18 13 5 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 8 4 54 24 6 4 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 9 3 62 17 6 2 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 2 65 17 5 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 11 4 43 18 15 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 10 4 39 17 22 7 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 11 6 49 18 10 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 11 4 44 20 14 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 10 5 53 18 11 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 8 4 39 19 17 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 10 5 53 18 11 4
  3. Delicacy of character or feeling usually from excessive refinement; fastidiousness Tags: countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-noun-ugo7JGb9
  4. Synonym of social nicety. Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: social nicety [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-noun-nOYGXyy9
  5. (obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste. Tags: countable, obsolete, uncountable
    Sense id: en-nicety-en-noun-RKbdTiL9

Inflected forms

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          "ref": "1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC:",
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          "text": "Afterwards I took it back when it was borne in upon me startlingly with what extreme nicety he had estimated the time requisite for the ‘affair.’",
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          "ref": "1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 210:",
          "text": "[W]e cannot judge with exact nicety whether the hunter or the hunted has the greater dash of toe.",
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          "ref": "1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 18:",
          "text": "[I]f you knew how Selina feels with respect to sleeping at an inn, you would not wonder at Mrs. Churchill’s making incredible exertions to avoid it. Selina says it is quite horror to her—and I believe I have caught a little of her nicety.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2012 August 27, Alex Mooney, “No more niceness: Obama, Romney try to rain on each other’s parade”, in CNN:",
          "text": "To be sure, 2012 marks an emphatic end to the bygone courtesy of allowing the other campaign to have its convention moment. But the traditional nicety began unraveling at least two or three election cycles ago.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2023 August 31, William Meny & Paul Simms, “A Weekend at Morrigan Manor” (23:20 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry):",
          "text": "“That was so lovely. But how come none of you ever said any of this to me?” “Because we're vampires, my squeaky-voiced, fucking berserk, nutjob, idiot friend. And sometimes we're not too good with the old niceties and kindness towards those we care about. But our hearts... are full of love.” “He's not wrong.” “I am so embarrassed.”",
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          "ref": "2024 June 16, David Hytner, “Jude Bellingham gives England winning start but Serbia make Southgate sweat”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Both anthems were booed beforehand. It was never going to be a night for niceties.",
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        "That which is delicate to the taste."
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        "(obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste."
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          "ref": "2025 April 14, Keena Blum, “What comes to your mind when you see these people?”, in things your mom should've told you (YouTube):",
          "text": "Now, believe me, I know just how tempting it is to come back with a snarky reply in the comments of these videos. I've done it here and there just to scratch the itch. It's because I've had a lot of training on how to be nicety. It was a survival tactic at Tesla. It has literally become an automatic response for me.",
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            "feminine"
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          "roman": "xìjié",
          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
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          "code": "cs",
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          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "word": "finesa"
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        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
          "word": "délicatesse"
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        {
          "code": "ga",
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          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "word": "beaichte"
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        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
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          "word": "cruinneas"
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        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "detálʹ",
          "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "дета́ль"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
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          "word": "finesa"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "přesnost"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "detail"
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        {
          "code": "fr",
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          "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
          "word": "subtilité"
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        {
          "alt": "びみょう",
          "code": "ja",
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          "roman": "bimyō",
          "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
          "word": "微妙"
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        {
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          "roman": "tóčnostʹ",
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          "type": "quote"
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              50
            ]
          ],
          "text": "A rocket-propelled grenade doesn't have the nicety of a sniper round, but you must admit its effectiveness.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              85,
              91
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 212:",
          "text": "Afterwards I took it back when it was borne in upon me startlingly with what extreme nicety he had estimated the time requisite for the ‘affair.’",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              29,
              35
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary On The Plains, page 210:",
          "text": "[W]e cannot judge with exact nicety whether the hunter or the hunted has the greater dash of toe.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Subtlety or precision of use; exactness; preciseness."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Subtlety",
          "subtle"
        ],
        [
          "precision",
          "precision"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              231,
              237
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 18:",
          "text": "[I]f you knew how Selina feels with respect to sleeping at an inn, you would not wonder at Mrs. Churchill’s making incredible exertions to avoid it. Selina says it is quite horror to her—and I believe I have caught a little of her nicety.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Delicacy of character or feeling usually from excessive refinement; fastidiousness"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              144,
              150
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2012 August 27, Alex Mooney, “No more niceness: Obama, Romney try to rain on each other’s parade”, in CNN:",
          "text": "To be sure, 2012 marks an emphatic end to the bygone courtesy of allowing the other campaign to have its convention moment. But the traditional nicety began unraveling at least two or three election cycles ago.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              205,
              213
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2023 August 31, William Meny & Paul Simms, “A Weekend at Morrigan Manor” (23:20 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry):",
          "text": "“That was so lovely. But how come none of you ever said any of this to me?” “Because we're vampires, my squeaky-voiced, fucking berserk, nutjob, idiot friend. And sometimes we're not too good with the old niceties and kindness towards those we care about. But our hearts... are full of love.” “He's not wrong.” “I am so embarrassed.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              73,
              81
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 June 16, David Hytner, “Jude Bellingham gives England winning start but Serbia make Southgate sweat”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "Both anthems were booed beforehand. It was never going to be a night for niceties.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of social nicety."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "social nicety",
          "social nicety#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "social nicety"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "That which is delicate to the taste."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈnaɪsɪti/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-nicety.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga/En-us-nicety.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga"
    }
  ],
  "word": "nicety"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms suffixed with -ty",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Irish translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "social nicety"
    },
    {
      "word": "to a nicety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "nicetee"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English nicetee",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "niceté",
        "4": "",
        "5": "simpleness, foolishness"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nice",
        "3": "-ty"
      },
      "expansion": "nice + -ty",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -ty.",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              221,
              228
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 April 14, Keena Blum, “What comes to your mind when you see these people?”, in things your mom should've told you (YouTube):",
          "text": "Now, believe me, I know just how tempting it is to come back with a snarky reply in the comments of these videos. I've done it here and there just to scratch the itch. It's because I've had a lot of training on how to be nicety. It was a survival tactic at Tesla. It has literally become an automatic response for me.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way that is seemingly, or perceived as, pleasant or agreeable."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unpleasant",
          "unpleasant"
        ],
        [
          "spiteful",
          "spiteful"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈnaɪsɪti/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-nicety.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga/En-us-nicety.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/En-us-nicety.oga"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "iztǎnčenost",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "изтънченост"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "word": "考究"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "xìjié",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "word": "细节"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "jemnůstka"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "jemnost"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "finesa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "word": "délicatesse"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "beaichte"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "cruinneas"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "detálʹ",
      "sense": "small detail that is nice or polite but not necessary",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "дета́ль"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "finesa"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "přesnost"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "detail"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "word": "subtilité"
    },
    {
      "alt": "びみょう",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "bimyō",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "word": "微妙"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "tóčnostʹ",
      "sense": "subtlety or precision of use",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "то́чность"
    }
  ],
  "word": "nicety"
}

Download raw JSONL data for nicety meaning in All languages combined (11.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-20 using wiktextract (4eaa824 and ea19a0a). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.