adj. and adv. (old: still colloquial).—1. Simple; witless.
1297. Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle, 106. He was NYCE and knowþe no wisdom.
1350. William of Palerne (E.E.T.S.), i. 491. Now witterly ich am vn-wis · & wonderliche NYCE.
1383. CHAUCER, The Canterbury Tales, ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale,’ i., 82. But seye that we be wyse, and no-thing NYCE.
1430. Þe Deuelis Perlament (E.E.T.S.), 54. Whi were þou so NYCE to leete him go?
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. NICE. More NICE than wise; a Sir Courtly NICE, a silly, empty, gay, foolish Fellow.
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v.
2. (old: still colloquial).—See quot., 1696, and cf. Swift’s definition of a ‘NICE man’ as ‘a man of nasty ideas.’
1543. Book of Precedence (E.E.T.S., extra series), i., 66. Be not to noyous, to NYCE, ne to nefangle.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. NICE; squeamish, precise.
1775. SHERIDAN, The Rivals, ii., 2. Nay, Sir Lucius, I thought you wa’n’t rich enough to be so NICE.
1818. GREVILLE, Memoirs, 15 Aug. I have seen her … much amused with jokes, stories, and allusions which would shock a very NICE person.
1895. KATHLEEN M. CAFFYN, A Comedy in Spasms, I. Fine blend of Henry Fairchild, Pelham, and John Halifax, all ‘NICE’ books to think of in connection with boys.
3. (colloquial).—Pleasant; agreeable: e.g., a NICE woman or a NICE fellow; cf. the satirical extension: as in ‘a NICE young man for a small tea-party.’
