Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PLOY

DEFINITION:
A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
“First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” said the 44th president, conceding that it does serve as an effective distraction and ploy for attention.
►The Boston Herald, 02/16/2026

Generate your own quiz
Select a grade level
 Elementary
 Middle School
 High School
Select a quiz type
 By words
 By Definitions
Select how many questions
5   10   15   20  

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. Nuisance

► The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting of sieve tubes, fibers, parenchyma, and sclereids.

► One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.

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

► A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

2. Accentuate

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

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

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

3. Protagonist

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

► Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

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

► To honor the memory of with a ceremony

4. Participle

► A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

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

► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

► Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

5. Outrageous

► A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

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

Get more Quizzes 

 Elementary School    Middle School   High School  

 By Word     By Definition    5  10  15  20 Questions

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.