Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

WILDFIRE

DEFINITION:
An unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but a long drought, low humidity and strong winds were fueling them.
The Key West Citizen, 04/27/2026

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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. Gargoyle

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.


2. Decorum

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

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

An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

Appropriateness of behavior or conduct


3. Sacrifice

A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

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

The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal


4. Silhouette

A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

To cringe in fear

Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.


5. Metaphor

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

To honor the memory of with a ceremony


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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.