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.
See modern.
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin recent- (stem of recēns ) “fresh, new”
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!
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Recent public appearances have also fueled renewed conversation around Trump’s health after visible bruising on his hands and swelling in his lower legs drew attention online and in political media coverage.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
Recent layoffs at Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite,” corroborate Gallagher’s concerns.
From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026
Recent data has pointed to a continued cooling in the U.K. jobs market, while surveys of purchasing managers released Thursday indicated the economy has slowed sharply after a strong start to the year.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Recent pullbacks in hot chip stocks betray some nervousness around how far the artificial-intelligence trade can propel the market.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Recent discoveries indicate that at least one domesticated variant, einkorn wheat, originated in the Karaçadag Hills—less than twenty miles from Göbekli Tepe.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
