recency

American  

[ree-suhn-see] / ˈri sən si /

Sometimes recentness

noun

1. the fact of being recent, of having occurred a relatively short time ago; closeness of a past event to a later past time or to the present.

   The general nervousness during that period was mostly due to the recency of the great stock market crash.

2. the fact of being more recent than something else and therefore more salient or memorable (often used attributively).

   The data might be showing recency effects—that is, choices presented later were more likely to be selected by participants.

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Etymology

Origin of recency

recen(t) ( def. ) + -cy ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recency

Is putting a nine-month-old song at No. 2 on this list an act of recency bias?

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026

The first is that the well-known phenomenon of recency bias, where our brains give too much weight to recent events, is distorting our picture of stocks and bonds.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 5, 2026

A big reason to keep a brag book is to guard against recency bias.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

Over 120 of these studies were given priority based on sample size, recency, relevance and the range of health conditions they addressed.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2025

Once more, then, we find in our results no correspondence between recency of defect and quick mental recovery.

From Adenoids and Diseased Tonsils Their Effect on General Intelligence by Rogers, Margaret Cobb