recency

[ ree-suhn-see ]

noun

1. the fact of being recent, of having occurred a relatively short time ago; closeness of a past event to a later past time or to the present:

   The general nervousness during that period was mostly due to the recency of the great stock market crash.

2. the fact of being more recent than something else and therefore more salient or memorable (often used attributively):

   The data might be showing recency effects—that is, choices presented later were more likely to be selected by participants.

Word History and Origins

Origin of recency¹

recen(t) ( def ) + -cy ( def )

Example Sentences

Even among those who manage to finish, more than 40 percent of recent graduates aged 22 to 27 are underemployed, meaning that they’re working in jobs that don’t require their degree, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports.

From Washington Post

Castel blamed part of the recent rise in cases on fatigue with following safety protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks and staying at home.

From Washington Post

The Smithsonian will close the National Zoo and the seven museums it had reopened in stages since July and the National Gallery of Art will shutter its galleries in response to the Washington region’s recent spike in coronavirus cases.

From Washington Post

On a recent visit, I was able to see Kehinde Wiley’s popular portrait of Barack Obama without waiting in a line fit for a ride at Disney World.

From Washington Post

“The Pull of the Stars” Donoghue’s 13th novel — set during the 1918 Great Flu, the deadliest pandemic in recent history — was, by mere coincidence, published as the coronavirus was sweeping the globe.

From Washington Post

The factors that strengthen these tendencies or connections are the frequency, recency, primacy, and vividness of experience.

From Project Gutenberg

That Mount Rainier should still retain so much of its internal heat is not surprising in view of the recency of its eruptions.

From Project Gutenberg

Once more, then, we find in our results no correspondence between recency of defect and quick mental recovery.

From Project Gutenberg

What particular word shall be recalled depends on the frequency, recency and intensity of past linkage.

From Project Gutenberg

We must add to this the comparative recency of geological study in this rich field.

From Project Gutenberg