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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 High 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. Clear to the understanding.

Hegemony

Notarize

Unctuous

Lucid


2. Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid.

Omnipotent

Diffident

Paradigm

Contradiction


3. To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication.

Photosynthesis

Equinox

Expurgate

Reparation


4. To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.

Lexicon

Vacuous

Abstemious

Bowdlerize


5. Not interesting; dull:

Belie

Jejune

Suffragist

Taxonomy


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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.