Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

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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. Immune

To honor the memory of with a ceremony

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.


2. Voracious

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

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

Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.

A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness


3. Deign

To condescend to give or grant

Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

To cringe in fear

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline


4. Spectrum

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

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

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

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. Flourish

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.


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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.