lately

adverb

late·​ly ˈlāt-lē 

: of late : recently

has been friendlier lately

Synonyms of lately

• recently
• late
• newly
• now
• just

Examples of lately in a Sentence

He has been feeling better lately.

Lately, she has been worrying about her son.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Indiana Fever — a habitual middle-of-the-pack franchise, 14 years removed from its only championship — have been on a hot streak on the court lately that has carried them up among the championship contenders. — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026

Cinema has lately exhausted the emotional mileage of the Ukraine–EU border, but one wittily choreographed setpiece involving the couple’s border crossing finds in transition an ingenious point of convergence between gender and geography. — Sonya Vseliubska, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2026

Though the stock has been on the upturn lately, rising 9% the last three months. — Yun Li, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026

Per Bloomberg, the speaker will follow in the steps of other smart speakers lately in pushing an AI-first focus aimed at helping people complete tasks, compared to simpler smart speaker tasks, like checking the weather. — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing lately

• Johnny-come-lately

Rhymes for lately

• innately
• ornately
• pinnately
• sedately
• greatly
• stately
• precipitately

Kids Definition

lately

adverb

late·​ly ˈlāt-lē 

: not long ago