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.
—Asian stocks were mixed after their recent rally.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
Other recent Mediterranean diet research continues to support the pattern's broader cardiovascular value.
From Science Daily • May 19, 2026
Perhaps the shocking recent news of Alex Murdaugh’s convictions being overturned will spark voter interest in the Hulu true-crime miniseries.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Companies around the world have announced major job cuts in recent months as they increasingly use AI tools for roles currently carried out by humans.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Despite recent efforts to locate the title in the twentieth century, they comprised, by any informed and fair-minded standard, the greatest generation of political talent in American history.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
