recent
adjective
of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc..
recent
American
[ree-suhnt]
/ ˈri sənt /
adjective
-
of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc..
recent events; a recent trip.
-
not long past.
in recent years.
-
of or belonging to a time not long past.
-
Geology. Recent. noting or pertaining to the present epoch, originating at the end of the glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, and forming the latter half of the Quaternary Period; Holocene.
noun
Recent
1
British
/ ˈriːsənt /
adjective
recent
2
British
/ ˈriːsənt /
adjective
Recent
Scientific
/ rē′sənt /
Synonym Usage
See modern.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recent
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin recent- (stem of recēns ) “fresh, new”
Explanation
If something is recent, it happened in the immediate past or not long ago. You are a recent fan of yoga if you just started liking it in the past week or two. If you talk about something that happened in recent months or years, it means the last one to three months or years. Otherwise, recent means new or just happened. It’s particularly useful when you don’t know exactly when something happened, but you know it wasn’t long ago. Perhaps you have been a recent guest star on a show, and your recent movies have been very successful. You know it wasn’t long ago at all and you are still a star!
Vocabulary lists containing recent
"Magic Island," Vocabulary from the poem
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Workshop 5, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
US President Jimmy Carter even loved fishing in these rivers, but according to fishermen, recent pollution has made it impossible.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Investors pared back bets in recent weeks that the Fed will hike interest rates in 2026, helping the stock market stay near records and propelling semiconductor and memory storage makers to soar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Many Wall Street analysts apparently are unaware of this, however, as in recent weeks they have been asking how high interest rates must rise high before they kill the bull market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Add to that higher interest rates in response to recent inflation shocks and the picture begins to look grim.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Camille opens her mouth, probably to mention her recent desire to become a vegetarian, then closes it.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Recent cup winners Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt start their cup journeys against lower league opposition on Friday, while holders Bayern Munich play on September 2.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Recent fossil discoveries and advances in evolutionary and genetic analysis make this an ideal time to reconsider whether our traditional taxonomy still accurately reflects human evolution," Dr. Towle said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Recent successes have also flipped the narrative on Tehran’s investment in the axis and its effectiveness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Recent surveys found signs that water voles had established themselves both upstream and downstream of the original release site.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Recent scientific evidence, such as DNA testing, confirms that Jefferson or some male in his family fathered the children of Sally Hemings.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.