Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Elementary 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. To talk rapidly, indistinctly, or unintelligibly; to utter gibberish or nonsense.

classify

brackish

jabber

meander


2. The result or outcome of a cause.

effect

oppose

contortion

construct


3. The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it

illuminate

reflection

scurry

dispel


4. The person, place or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired.

dispel

minority

terse

source


5. One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.

circumference

materialize

element

influence


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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.