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:
And there have been more recent incidents to spur investment.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The family did not give a cause of death, but the singer-songwriter -- also an actress, philanthropist and powerful businesswoman -- had spoken about her recent ill health.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
OpenAI has made other leadership changes in recent weeks inside the infrastructure team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Two of the group’s members, Doyoung and Jungwoo, are serving in the Korean military, so as of now there are only five members meeting with The Times for a recent interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
This latter point requires a reflective review of recent scholarship on the complicated origins of American nationhood.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
“For most companies, it’s not common to report an earnings triple play, but for NVDA, it’s now expected. Recent negative share-price reactions to the positive news are evidence of that,” says Bespoke.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
Recent polling inside Russia, including by the Public Opinion Foundation, suggest that anxiety in society is rising.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
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 data could point to a 6.6% fall in intermediate-goods production—a decent proxy for sensitivity to low water levels—pushing down industrial production by 2.5% over six months, all else being equal, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Recent polls, an aide pointed out, showed that the public approved of the American commitment to support South Vietnam.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
