Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

BILLIONAIRE

DEFINITION:
One whose wealth is estimated at a billion or more dollars, pounds, or other monetary units.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
About a dozen people took part in the “March for billionaires” on Saturday morning in San Francisco to raise awareness about the plight of the ultrarich.
►The Los Angeles Times, 02/09/2026

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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. Polygon

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

► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

► A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.

2. Parasite

► The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

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

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

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

3. Tempo

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

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

4. Toxin

► A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.

► Being without or almost without hope

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

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

5. Inference

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

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

► Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

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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.