Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

Click on the correct answer in the quiz below.
Then see if you can find the word in your newspaper -- the print edition, the website or the digital edition and copy the sentence for context. NOTE: High School words are much harder to find!


1. Typhoon

A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.


2. Tsunami

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.

An embankment built to prevent flooding

A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.


3. Ultraviolet

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

A schedule of prices or fees.

Of or relating to the range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 4 nanometers, on the border of the x-ray region, to about 380 nanometers, just beyond the violet in the visible spectrum.


4. Delegate

A proportional part or share.

An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.

A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.


5. Jovial

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.

A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.


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Common Core State Standard
LS.CCS.4/5/6 Grades 3-12: Students are asked to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words through multiple choice vocabulary quizzes. Quizzes are designed to help students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in words, acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words, and gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. Students are then asked to find the words within the newspaper and copy the sentence for context to its overall meaning or function in a sentence.