What it means
نیک (nik) is a literary Persian word for good, virtuous, or noble, more formal than the everyday خوب (khub). You meet it in poetry, proverbs, and set phrases rather than casual conversation, where it carries a weight that خوب does not.
How to use it
- پندار نیک، گفتار نیک، کردار نیک (pendâr-e nik, goftâr-e nik, kerdâr-e nik) “good thoughts, good words, good deeds”
- نیکبختی نصیبت باد (nik-bakhti nasib-at bâd) “may good fortune be yours”
- مرد نیکی بود (mard-e niki bud) “he was a good, noble man”
- به نام نیک زندگی کرد (be nâm-e nik zendegi kard) “he lived with a good name”
Cultural note
نیک is best known through the Zoroastrian ethical motto, good thoughts, good words, good deeds, which remains a widely cited moral formula in Iranian culture even outside religious settings. Because of that pedigree, نیک carries a slightly archaic, elevated tone, and Persian speakers reach for it in wedding speeches, eulogies, and formal writing rather than daily chat. It survives today mainly in compounds and fixed phrases like نیکبختی (good fortune) and نیکنام (of good repute).
References
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