nice as ninepence

adj

"nice-as-ninepence" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nice as ninepence” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Perfectly all right; fine.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nice-as-ninepence · nice as ninepence · English

nice as ninepence · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for nice as ninepence
PropertyValue
Headwordnice as ninepence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nice as ninepence” in English

nice as ninepencefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nice as ninepence is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for nice as ninepence in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Corruption of nice as ninepins, from the neat and precise ordering of the skittles in the game of ninepins. The correct English form is nice as ninepence, spelled N-I-C-E- -A-S- -N-I-N-E-P-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Perfectly all right; fine.
  2. 2
    Neat, tidy, in order.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how nice as ninepence appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. She had been mistress of the farm so long that it would be hard for her to play second fiddle, but give her time and she'd be as good as new butter and as nice as ninepence, he said.

Etymology

Corruption of nice as ninepins, from the neat and precise ordering of the skittles in the game of ninepins.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nice as ninepence"?
"nice as ninepence" is spelled N-I-C-E- -A-S- -N-I-N-E-P-E-N-C-E.
What does "nice as ninepence" mean?
As an adjective, "nice as ninepence" means: Perfectly all right; fine.
What is the origin of the word "nice as ninepence"?
Corruption of nice as ninepins, from the neat and precise ordering of the skittles in the game of ninepins. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list