nice guy

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nice guy (plural nice guys)

1. (idiomatic, euphemistic) An inoffensive adult male who desires romantic companionship but who is too bland and uninspiring to be attractive.
   • 1999, The 'Nice Guy' Syndrome, Self-Help Informational Resources, The Counseling Center for Human Development, The University of South Florida

     The nice guy, they say, finishes last. But in romantic relationships, the nice guy often isn't even in the running. […] The nice guy may have expressed an interest in dating you[...]. The nice guy is the person who you trust and feel comfortable with, but don't see as "fun" or "challenging" or really all that "interesting," other than as a friend, of course.

   • 2002 May 3, Cecelia Goodnow, “What's wrong with being a nice guy? Plenty, according to a local therapist”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

     "My frustrations were pretty typical Nice Guy relationship issues," he says. "Not feeling appreciated, not feeling sexually desired by my wife. I didn't feel like...I received as much as I gave."

   • 2005 September 18, "Dirty D.", Lost Romanticism and the Manwhore, DiaryLand, at uberfrau.diaryland.com

     Nice guys are historically the grail of dating. […] As both Nora and I reminisced and compared how we were treated by the manwhore and by the nice guy, the manwhore always won out.

2. (Internet slang, sarcastic, derogatory) A man who pretends to be kind and polite with the goal of attracting women, often becoming hostile and misogynistic when their advances are rebuffed; someone affected by nice guy syndrome.
   • 2016 March 12, Suzannah Weiss, “5 Signs Of Nice Guy Syndrome”, in Bustle‎:

     Plenty of men will treat women kindly, but Nice Guys like to think that behaving kindly earns them a gold star. It doesn't.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see nice,‎ guy.

• bad boy
• friend zone