niceness

English

Etymology

From nice +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪsnɪs/

Noun

niceness (countable and uncountable, plural nicenesses)

1. (obsolete) Silliness; folly. [16th c.]
2. Effeminacy; indulgence in soft living or luxuriousness. [from 16th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 10, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

     He was a good Citizen, of an honest-gentle nature, as are commonly fat and burly men; for so was he: But to speake truely of him, full of ambitious vanitie and remisse nicenesse [translating mollesse].

3. (obsolete) Shyness; reserve. [16th–19th c.]
   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXIII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC:

     Methinks a young create of niceness should be less ready to write to one man, when she is designed to be another's.

4. Fastidiousness; fine sensitivity. [from 17th c.]
5. Pleasantness, especially of behaviour or personality; agreeableness. [from 19th c.]
6. (computing, Unix) A value determining how much processor time to concede to a running process. (See also nice (verb), renice.)

Anagrams

• incenses