Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

OVERZEALOUS

DEFINITION:
Showing too much energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, attributed the encounter to an “overzealous poll worker who was complaining to the officer that the councilor shouldn’t have even been inside.”
The Boston Herald, 11/17/2025

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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. Cower

An embankment built to prevent flooding

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

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

To cringe in fear


2. Laconic

Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

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

The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.


3. Lichen

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,


4. Ultraviolet

A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

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.


5. Yacht

A rebirth or revival.

Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

Having a backbone or spinal column.

The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.


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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.