Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

RESPIRATORY

DEFINITION:
Relating to breathing.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
They weren’t warned to wear respiratory and other personal protection because the burning composite materials from the F-35 stealth fighter were releasing potentially harmful airborne particles and fibers, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.
►The Albuquerque Journal, 03/30/2026

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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. Laconic

► 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.

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

► Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

2. Introspection

► Self-examination.

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

► Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

► An embankment built to prevent flooding

3. Wretched

► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

► Harmful, malevolent, injurious. Harmfully cancerous.

► An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

4. Undulate

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

► The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.

► To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

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

5. Boisterous

► The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

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

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► 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.