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

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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. Deign

► The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

► Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

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

► To condescend to give or grant

2. Formidable

► The arrangement of events in time

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

► To cringe in fear

3. Ellipse

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

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

► The pattern produced on a photosensitive medium that has been exposed by holography and then photographically developed.

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

4. Voracious

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

► One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

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

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

5. Stereotype

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

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

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

► Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

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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.