in letzter Zeit

German

Alternative forms

• die letzte Zeit (chiefly colloquial)

Adverb

in letzter Zeit

1. of late; lately; recently; referring to the recent past as a whole
   • 1960, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Gespenster:

     Anton fragte ihren Bruder, ob sie beide in letzter Zeit gereist waren und wohin?

     Anton asked her brother whether the two of them had been travelling recently, and where to?

Usage notes

• In letzter Zeit is not freely interchangeable with other words meaning “lately, recently”, such as kürzlich, neulich, letztens, all of which refer to a particular time or event in the recent past, as in: Ich habe sie kürzlich besucht. (“I visited her recently.”) — Compare to this: Ich habe sie in letzter Zeit besucht, which will typically mean a number of visits throughout the recent past.