I’m not sure there’s a precise antonym for “nice.” That’s because “nice” is a fairly expansive word, suitable for all sorts of situations. It does for everything.”Among the antonyms for “nice” in Roget’s Thesaurus are “ugly,” “horrible,” “nasty” and “repulsive.” Those words all seem charged with more dark energy than the bland energy that animates “nice.” Still, there’s no denying they all apply to 2020. It may not mean “foolish” anymore, but no one really wants to be described as “nice.” “She’s a nice girl” isn’t exactly high praise. You’re too nice, and then you flip, it’s too long, too nasty, too horrible.’”I will leave it to historians to unpack that paragraph — to ponder what it means to be “too nice too long” and whether it applies to the outgoing president — but I will say that it’s time to reclaim the word “nice.” It’s a nice word, and there’s nothing wrong with it. As the protagonist in Kingsley Amis’s “Lucky Jim” puts it: “Nice things are nicer than nasty ones.”Of course, simply using the word “nice” more often in 2021 won’t be enough.

Source: Washington Post December 20, 2020 21:33 UTC