Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PENDULUM

DEFINITION:
A weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
The grim forecast was driven by lower than projected state revenues, continuing a pendulum swing from the fiscal boom of the COVID-19 pandemic.
►The Los Angeles Times, 05/13/2024

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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. Evanescent

► An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy.

► Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

► A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.

► To picture falsely; misrepresent.

2. Jejune

► Not interesting; dull:

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

► Having a harmful effect; injurious.

► To repeat in concise form. To make a summary.

3. Soliloquy

► Having a harmful effect; injurious.

► To repeat in concise form. To make a summary.

► The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

► 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.

4. Usurp

► Having a bad disposition; surly.

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

► Of the same or similar nature or kind

► Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious.

5. Equinox

► Something done or paid to compensate or make amends.

► To renounce under oath; forswear.

► Either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.

► Everyday; commonplace.

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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.