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 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. Epiphany

► A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

► Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid.

► Impossible to dispute; unquestionable

► Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.

2. Incognito

► To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.

► Having one’s true identity concealed.

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

► The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.

3. Quasar

► Lacking social polish; tactless.

► To endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote.

► An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy.

► Tumultuous; stormy.

4. Yeoman

► The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

► Cheerfully confident; optimistic.

► A diligent, dependable worker.

► 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.

5. Tautology

► A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life,

► Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy.

► Playfully jocular; humorous

► Very talkative; garrulous.

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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.