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. Bowdlerize

► A system of names used in an art or science:

► Having a bad disposition; surly.

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

► To endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote.

2. Abjure

► To renounce under oath; forswear.

► Impossible to dispute; unquestionable

► A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary:

► Tumultuous; stormy.

3. Reciprocal

► Interchanged, given, or owed to each other.

► Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.

► To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.

► Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid.

4. Notarize

► To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.

► Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid.

► Something done or paid to compensate or make amends.

► To certify or attest to (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public.

5. Homogeneous

► The art or study of correct spelling according to established usage.

► To impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or repetition; instill.

► Of the same or similar nature or kind

► Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families.

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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.