Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, belonging to, or occurring at a time immediately before the present.
  • adjective Modern; new.
  • adjective Geology Of, relating to, or being the Holocene Epoch.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to time just before the present; not long past in occurrence or existence; lately happening or being; newly appearing, done, or made: as, recent events; recent importations; recent memories; recent news; a recent speech.
  • Of modern date, absolutely or relatively; not of primitive or remote origin; belonging to or occurring in times not far removed.
  • Still fresh in quality or existence; not old or degenerate; unchanged by time: said of things liable to rapid change, as newly gathered plants or specimens in natural history.
  • In geology, of or pertaining to the epoch regarded as the present from a geological point of view.
  • Lately come; not long removed or separated.
  • Synonyms Late, Fresh, etc. See new.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of late origin, existence, or occurrence; lately come; not of remote date, antiquated style, or the like; not already known, familiar, worn out, trite, etc.; fresh; novel; new; modern.
  • adjective (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the present or existing epoch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Having happened a short while ago.
  • adjective Up-to-date; not old-fashioned or dated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective new
  • adjective of the immediate past or just previous to the present time
  • noun approximately the last 10,000 years

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, new, fresh, from Latin recēns, recent-; see ken- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin recēns (genitive recentis).

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Examples

  • Sarah Palin tore into Michelle Obama on Fox News Wednesday, criticizing the first lady for what she characterized as a recent condescending defense of her husband's presidency.

    Sarah Palin Slams Michelle Obama On Fox News Over Defense Of Husband's Presidency (VIDEO) 2012

  • After listing what it describes as recent "notable successes" against al-Qaeda, particularly its Afghan Taliban allies, the committee gives its thanks and congratulations to "the administration as a whole and in particular the men and women of the U.S. military."

    Military expands intelligence role 2010

  • At the Armenian cafe Urartu off Broadway, Appo Jabarian scans his email inbox for news of what he dubs the recent "secret agreement."

    In Armenian Enclave, Turkish Deal Arouses Suspicion 2009

  • And now North Korea releases what it calls recent video of an apparently healthy Kim Jong-il.

    CNN Transcript Apr 8, 2009 2009

  • CHETRY: Cuba TV airing what it called recent footage of former President Fidel Castro and in it he looks well-rested and fit.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2009 2009

  • Well, Cuban TV is airing what it calls recent footage of former President Fidel Castro looking healthier and well rested.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2009 2009

  • This comes just a day after North Korean TV showed what it called recent footage of the secretive leader.

    CNN Transcript Apr 9, 2009 2009

  • Cuban TV is airing what it called recent footage of former President Fidel Castro.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2009 2009

  • When I asked him what he called the recent unpleasantness, Woo was remarkably candid: "The uprising, in African-American neighborhoods-and the riot in other parts of the city."

    City Of Euphemisms 2008

  • Mr. Bernanke signaled he isn't contemplating higher interest rates despite what he called a recent "jump" in inflation.

    Pound Falls To Two-Year Low 2008

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