Word.ws English Dictionary

new math

new math noun: a dramatic and short-lived change in the teaching of mathematics in grade schools in the 1960s, focusing on abstract topics such as symbolic logic, to the detriment of simple arithmetic etc.

Noun (1)

new math (uncountable)

  1. (US, historical) A dramatic and short-lived change in the teaching of mathematics in grade schools in the 1960s, focusing on abstract topics such as symbolic logic, to the detriment of simple arithmetic etc.
  2. (broadly, derogatory) The methodology used to arrive at an unreasonably incorrect answer for a mathematical calculation.
    • She quickly calculated the tip to be $45.00 on the restaurant tab of $110.50, apparently using new math.

Noun (2) capitalized: New Math

New Math (uncountable)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of new math.
    • Hooray for New Math[!] / ... / It's so simple, / ... / That only a child can do it!1965, Tom Lehrer, “New Math”, in That Was the Year That Was

Forms of new math

alternative formNew Math

Questions about new math

What does new math mean?
New math means a dramatic and short-lived change in the teaching of mathematics in grade schools in the 1960s, focusing on abstract topics such as symbolic logic, to the detriment of simple arithmetic etc.
What part of speech is new math?
New math is a noun.

Words near new math in the dictionary

  1. New Manila
  2. New Marlborough
  3. New Marske
  4. New Martinsville
  5. new materialism
  6. new math
  7. new media
  8. New Men
  9. new methylene blue
  10. New Mexican
  11. New Mexicans

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: new math (page history and authors); New Math (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “new math.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/new_math. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.