Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

WILDFIRE

DEFINITION:
An unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but a long drought, low humidity and strong winds were fueling them.
The Key West Citizen, 04/27/2026

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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. Hubris

A part, portion, or share.

Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance.

Of, relating to, or produced by motion.

A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone.


2. Parameter

The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.

To renounce under oath; forswear.

A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary

An advocate of the extension of political voting rights, especially to women.


3. Oligarchy

To seize another’s place, authority, or possession wrongfully.

Falling off or shed at a specific season or stage of growth:

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

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


4. Infrastructure

To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate.

An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.

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

To picture falsely; misrepresent.


5. Irony

A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life,

The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.

Playfully jocular; humorous

The act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing.


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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.