Ways to say it
| Ukrainian | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ми́лий | mýlyj |
| фа́йний | fájnyj |
| прива́бливий | pryváblyvyj |
Use ми́лий to describe someone as cute, sweet or endearing. Use прива́бливий when focusing specifically on physical attractiveness. Use фа́йний to describe something as being good, fine or cool.
Which one should you use?
ми́лий is often used in an endearing sense to mean 'cute' or 'sweet', whereas прива́бливий focuses more specifically on being physically attractive. Additionally, фа́йний is more colloquial and typically implies that something is 'good' or 'fine' rather than just being attractive.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
фа́йний is a colloquial term and is less formal than прива́бливий. For formal social interactions, such as meeting someone for the first time, you might use the phrase Дуже приємно to express that it is nice to meet them or Приємно познайомитися to say 'pleased to meet you'. In informal settings, you can use Класно to mean 'nice' or 'great', similar to the English word 'cool'.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective ми́лий changes its ending depending on the gender and number of the noun it describes: use ми́ла for feminine nouns, ми́ле for neuter nouns and ми́лі for plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
mýlyj
Did you know?
- The word фа́йний is widely used in Western Ukraine and shares a common root with the German word 'fein', meaning 'fine' or 'delicate'.
- The word прива́бливий for 'attractive' shares a root with the Ukrainian verb ва́бти, which means 'to lure' or 'to entice'.
- Using ми́лий to describe a man can sometimes sound patronizing or overly sentimental, whereas in English 'nice guy' is a common, neutral description.
Examples in context
- Зустріти вас – дуже приємно!Nice to meet you!
- Приємно познайомитися! Я Вікторія.Pleased to meet you! I'm Victoria.
- Гарна робота!Nice job!
- Твій новий одяг виглядає класно!Your new outfit looks nice!
- Він дуже ми́лий хлопець.Vin duzhe myly khlopets'.He is a very nice guy.
- Це був ми́лий жест.Tse buv myly zhest'.It was a nice gesture.
Example conversation
Andriy and Olena are talking about a new colleague.
- Андрій AndriiТи вже зустріла нового колегу?Ty vzhe zustrila novoho kolehu?Have you met the new colleague yet?
- Олена OlenaТак, він дуже ми́лий.Tak, vin duzhe mylyy.Yes, he is very nice.
- Андрій AndriiВін допоміг мені з роботою.Vin dopomih meni z robotoyu.He helped me with the work.
- Олена OlenaЦе справді дуже ми́ло з його боку.Tse spravdi duzhe mylo z yoho boku.That is really very nice of him.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “nice” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
