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. Tranquility

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

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


2. Levee

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

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

A proportional part or share.

An embankment built to prevent flooding


3. Salmonella

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

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

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

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


4. Commemorate

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

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

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

To honor the memory of with a ceremony


5. Unanimous

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

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

A rebirth or revival.

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.


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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.