How to Use word problem in a Sentence

word problem

noun
  • This was not true for the word problem portion of our test.
    Sian Beilock, Quartz, 19 Feb. 2020
  • Could the Babylonians who lived in what is now Iraq more than 3,700 years ago solve a word problem like this?
    Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2017
  • The Roxana School District, on the other hand, called the word problems examples of poor judgment.
    Anne Branigin, The Root, 6 Feb. 2018
  • In high school physics, every lab and every word problem is about something falling down.
    Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 2 June 2010
  • Sanders also added in a three-minute-long word problem and her best Mariah Carey impersonation.
    Anne Branigin, The Root, 30 Oct. 2017
  • Putting the building back to good use, though, is much more complicated than answering a word problem.
    Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 20 May 2021
  • Measuring the availability of iron in your diet is like the dreaded word problem in high school math, spun out by the teacher who never liked you.
    Sharman Apt Russell, Scientific American, 20 May 2021
  • Gone are the days of apples and oranges — the word problems on a recent middle school math test used cocaine, ammunition and tricks for arithmetic practice.
    Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, 2 June 2016
  • In one experiment, students were each given a word problem.
    Joseph T. Hallinan, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2014
  • Giada, one of her twin 10-year-old daughters, has dyslexia and also struggles with math, especially the word problems.
    Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug. 2023
  • The math section is made up of multiple-choice word problems, as well as computational questions.
    Tyler Blint-Welsh, New York Times, 21 June 2018
  • Giada, one of her twin 10-year-old daughters, has dyslexia and also struggles with math, especially word problems.
    By Ariel Gilreath Of The Hechinger Report and Jackie Valley Of The Christian Science Monitor, Dallas News, 29 Aug. 2023
  • Our children are being locked in small, overcrowded rooms for several hours each day, forced to solve complicated word problems of no practical value.
    Alex Baia thatcher Jensen, The New Yorker, 7 June 2019
  • Much of Unit 1 was dedicated to logistics in a crowded country, as students waded through word problems that involved seating large numbers of people on buses, trains, and boats.
    Peter Hessler, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
  • The research involved controlled experiments such as pairing a fun activity (playing a game) with a work task (completing math and word problems).
    Demetria Gallegos, WSJ, 22 Oct. 2017
  • What’s missing from Younie’s math lesson are the word problems and whiteboards that typically characterize math classes in Oregon elementary schools.
    oregonlive, 6 Aug. 2023
  • In a moment perhaps intended as both cheeky commentary and scene setting, a student gets frustrated with a math teacher because a word problem centers on cisgender characters.
    Christopher Rosa, Glamour, 11 Mar. 2021
  • Placement tests also aren’t perfect, because reading passages and word problems may reference subjects some students aren’t familiar with, while other students may underperform because of nerves, Zaback said.
    Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2019
  • In elementary school, students may have trouble with math functions like addition and subtraction, word problems, counting money, or remembering directions.
    Jackie Mader, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'word problem.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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