nicer

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative of nice.

   This part of town feels nicer in the spring.

   The weather has been a good deal nicer this week than last.

   Note

   Short adjectives take -er rather than more, so nice climbs to nicer and then to nicest. Whatever nice means in the sentence, nicer carries it up a step: pleasanter weather, a friendlier person, a warmer review. One older strand is easy to misread. A nicer distinction is a finer, more delicate one, not a more pleasant one, and the surrounding words usually show which is meant.

2. 2
   adverbcolloquial

   Comparative of nice.

   She treated the new hires nicer than her old manager ever had.

   The whole team worked together nicer after the retreat.

   Note

   Here the comparative does an adverb's work, standing in for more nicely. It grows from nice used colloquially to mean 'nicely,' so it belongs to speech and relaxed writing; in formal prose, more nicely is the safer choice. To tell it from the adjective comparative, look at what it modifies: treated them nicer describes an action, while the room looks nicer describes the room.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2