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. Mosaic

A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).

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

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

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


2. Tempo

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

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

A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

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


3. Antibody

The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

A Y-shaped protein on the surface of B cells that is secreted into the blood or lymph in response to an antigenic stimulus

A schedule of prices or fees.

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


4. Repose

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

Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

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

The act of resting or the state of being at rest.


5. Guerrilla

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.


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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.