nicety

ni·ce·ty  (ns-t)

n. pl. ni·ce·ties

1. The quality of showing or requiring careful, precise treatment: the nicety of a diplomatic exchange.

2. Delicacy of character or feeling; fastidiousness; scrupulousness.

3. A fine point, small detail, or subtle distinction: the niceties of etiquette.

4. An elegant or refined feature; an amenity: the niceties of civilized life.

---

[Middle English nicete, silliness, exactitude, from Old French, silliness, from nice, silly; see nice.]

---

nicety

Noun

pl -ties

1. a subtle point: the niceties of our arguments

2. a refinement or delicacy: social niceties

3. to a nicety precisely

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	nicety - conformity with some esthetic standard of correctness or propriety; "it was performed with justness and beauty" justness, rightness conformance, conformity - correspondence in form or appearance
	2.	nicety - a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude; "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"; "don't argue about shades of meaning" nuance, subtlety, refinement, shade meaning, signification, import, significance - the message that is intended or expressed or signified; "what is the meaning of this sentence"; "the significance of a red traffic light"; "the signification of Chinese characters"; "the import of his announcement was ambiguous"

---

nicety

noun fine point, distinction, subtlety, nuance, refinement, minutiae