Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
►The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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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. Boycott

► 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 rebirth or revival.

► To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

2. Recede

► To condescend to give or grant

► Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

► To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

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

3. Quandary

► To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

► The method or result of concealing personnel or equipment from an enemy by making them appear to be part of the natural surroundings

► An embankment built to prevent flooding

4. Parasite

► A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

► One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

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

5. Virtuoso

► Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

► A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.

► A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

► Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

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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.