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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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In its recent statement to customers, Liberty made only the vaguest of promises.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The other two divers in the cave were Montefalcone's daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a student at Genoa, and recent graduate Federico Gualtieri.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Videos circulating online in recent days have shown rows of women in black chadors assembling and dismantling rifles during similar training sessions.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
Worries around higher bond yields and inflation have taken a recent toll on the S&P 500, which could be headed for a third-straight losing session on Tuesday.
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
And below that were all three recent video game systems!
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
