lately

American  

[layt-lee] / ˈleɪt li /

adverb

1. of late; recently; not long since.

   He has been very grouchy lately.

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lately British  

/ ˈleɪtlɪ /

adverb

1. in recent times; of late

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Etymology

Origin of lately

before 1000; Middle English latli; Old English lætlīce; see late, -ly

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Explanation

Something that happened lately occurred very recently. If you've spotted a fox every day for the last week, you might say, "I've seen so many foxes lately!" If your friend says, "I've been really stressed out lately," she means she's been overworked and tense for the past few days, weeks, or possibly months. Lately is an adverb that covers the immediate past, a period of time that wasn't too long ago. A more old-fashioned way to say lately is "of late." Though this word has had its current meaning since the fifteenth century, it originally meant "slow or sluggish."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lately

What may help Ellison there is that Netflix isn’t looking so red-hot lately.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Mr. Gorra is a professor of English, lately emeritus, at Smith College, and occasionally the air of the seminar room gets stuffy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

But lately, large caps have taken the lead.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

While Russian strikes on cargo ships docked in Ukrainian ports or close to the Ukrainian coast are common, strikes have also lately started hitting ships much closer to the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

It must be from the weaving loom; she’d increased her working hours lately to make ends meet.

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

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