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.

“She quickly calculated the tip to be $45.00 on the restaurant tab of $110.50, apparently using new math.”

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Meanings

new math1

nounnew math (uncountable)

alternative New Math

  1. UShistoricaluncountableeducationA 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. broadlyderogatoryuncountableThe 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.

New Math2

nounNew Math (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative 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
Cite this entry
APA

new math. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/new%20math

MLA

“new math.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/new%20math. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “new math,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/new%20math.

Source: new math on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.