Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

LITIGANT

DEFINITION:
Someone involved in a lawsuit.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
With the widespread and transformative use of artificial intelligence — particularly generative AI — in daily life, federal and state courts in New Mexico are finding self-represented litigants and some attorneys filing legal cases containing false or misleading information.
►The Albuquerque Journal, 04/13/2026

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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. Aspire

► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

2. Protagonist

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

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

► The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

3. Analogy

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

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

► A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

4. Ellipse

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

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

► Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

5. Sect

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

► To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.

► A cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

► Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.

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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.