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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

BACKLOT

DEFINITION:
An area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who serves the 4th District, makes her way across an empty, unnamed backlot, presenting her case to be the city’s next mayor.
The Los Angeles Times, 05/18/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 High 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. Notarize

To certify or attest to (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public.

A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone.

Not interesting; dull:

Something done or paid to compensate or make amends.


2. Bellicose

Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious.

Division into ordered groups or categories.

Having a bad disposition; surly.

Lacking social polish; tactless.


3. Circumlocution

Of or relating to money

The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language.

Tumultuous; stormy.

Falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth:


4. Winnow

To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate.

A system of names used in an art or science:

A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it.

To make an accusation against.


5. Soliloquy

A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.

Lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective.

The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

To impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or repetition; instill.


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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.