in recent memory
16
3.3
- idiom
:
en la memoria reciente
- The hire of one of the most admired press secretaries in recent memory is a coup for MSNBC.
- other country in recent memory
- time in recent memory
And I had the most restful, peaceful night of sleep in recent memory.
- And I had the most restful, peaceful night of sleep in recent memory.
- But are there any particular writers or books that you have been paying particular attention to in recent memory?
- I mean, it's literally yesterday was the first day I can remember in recent memory at all that was even remotely not blazing hot.
- Think about which scientist in recent memory has had probably saved more lives than any scientist to come.
Examples
-
November was one of the most violent months for Greenville in recent memory.
Blog text (2) -
The Obama Administration is experiencing the oddest post-election period of any president in recent memory.
Blog text (5) -
More than anything in recent memory, she wanted everything as close to perfect as possible.
Fiction book (1994) -
There have been a few of these, but one in recent memory stands out.
-
Perhaps more than any other country in recent memory, China is reinventing itself.
Academic text (1999) -
People seem to be angrier today than at any time in recent memory.
Academic text (2001) -
Hearty laughter filled the room for the first time in recent memory.
Fiction book (1992) -
But despite that, politics does seem more divided, nasty, and conflicted than in recent memory.
Blog text (16) -
We're just one-quarter of the way through the busiest week in politics in recent memory.
Blog text (20) -
After one of the dreariest winters in recent memory, warmer weather is finally here.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A short time before now
1
5.6
During the time people alive now can remember
Antonyms
How Recent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'within the period of time people can remember' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'in' + 'recent' + 'memory' (preposition + adjective + noun). This straightforward structural and semantic combination is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
In recent memory paints a simple picture: a person's memory holds past events and recent points to the near past. So when we say something happened in recent memory, we mean it happened during the time people can still 'remember'.