recent

modern, contemporary, current, recent, present, up-to-date

这些形容词均有“现代的、当代的”之意。
modern: 指现代或近代，时期可长可短；也可指新颖、时髦的。
contemporary: 仅指当今这个时代，不涉及任何过去的时代，但可表示不同的人或物存在于同一时代。
current: 指目前存在和发生的。
recent: 表示新近的，最近的，时间的长短依据所修饰的人或物而定。
present: 是这些词中语气最强的一个。指现在正发生、起作用的。
up-to-date: 一般用于非正式场合，指很时新、能反映当前的最新发展。

名词 recent:

1. approximately the last 10,000 years
   同义词：Holocene, Holocene epoch, Recent epoch

形容词 recent:

1. being new in a time not long past
2. of the immediate past or just previous to the present time
   同义词：late
3. near to or not long before the present

1. The government's control over the newspapers has loosened in recent years.
   近年来政府已放松了对报纸的控制。
2. The minister has put a different gloss on recent developments.
   部长就局势的最新发展作了另一番解释。
3. The recent scandal has provided the government's opponents with plenty of ammunition.
   最近的丑闻给政府的反对派提供了大量的炮弹。
4. Our foreign trade has expanded during recent years.
   近年来我们的对外贸易有所扩大。
5. Exclusiveness is a characteristic of recent riches, high society, and the skunk.
   排他主义，是为了近来的有钱人家、上流阶级以及臭鼬等的特色。
6. Recent discoveries will bear his prediction out.
   近来的种种发现将会证实他的预言。
7. It is only recently that I started painting.
   我开始作画，仅仅是最近的事情。
8. In recent times the price of just about everything has gone up.
   近来差不多样样东西都涨价。