Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

OVERZEALOUS

DEFINITION:
Showing too much energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, attributed the encounter to an “overzealous poll worker who was complaining to the officer that the councilor shouldn’t have even been inside.”
The Boston Herald, 11/17/2025

Generate your own quiz
Select a grade level
 Elementary
 Middle School
 High School
Select a quiz type
 By words
 By Definitions
Select how many questions
5   10   15   20  

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. Polymer

Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane.

Any of numerous natural and synthetic compounds consisting of up to millions of repeated linked units,

Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force; all-powerful.

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


2. Auspicious

The lowest point

Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

Vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish.

Put together; created.


3. Gerrymander

A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.

The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others.

The process in cell division by which the nucleus divides.


4. Subjugate

A diligent, dependable worker.

A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.

To bring under control; conquer.

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


5. Chromosome

A circular strand of DNA in bacteria that contains the hereditary information necessary for cell life.

Everyday; commonplace.

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

A product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away; debris.


Get more Quizzes 

 Elementary School    Middle School   High School  

 By Word     By Definition    5  10  15  20 Questions

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.