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:
Some 13% of renters are in their 50s, based on the most recent data from the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Poor performance by recent IPOs is also deterring investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Raman, for her part, said the mayor had been “missing in action” during the massively destructive Palisades fire in January 2025 and the more recent Lineage cold storage warehouse blaze in Boyle Heights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Despite a recent drop, vehicle thefts are up almost 50% in England and Wales compared with a decade ago, according to Home Office data.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The most recent time, they’d stood at the window together.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Recent graduate Hibo Hassan, 23, said she was there to show her solidarity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Recent evidence suggests that dendritic cells become less effective at efferocytosis in diabetic wounds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
Recent examples include Ford trucks’ BlueCruise hands-free towing and the G.O.A.T. dial, for Goes Over Any Type of Terrain, in its Bronco lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Recent testing by campaign group Stop Ure Pollution and the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust further upstream has raised concerns about bacteria and other pollution in the river, the Local Democracy Service reports.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Recent experiments suggest that this may indeed be the case.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
