Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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. Evanescent

Everyday; commonplace.

Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.

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


2. Detritus

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

To renounce under oath; forswear.

Very talkative; garrulous.

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


3. Obsequious

Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.

A part, portion, or share.

A system of names used in an art or science:

Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.


4. Kowtow

A system of names used in an art or science:

Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.

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

To show servile deference.


5. Hegemony

A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

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

Of, relating to, or produced by motion.

A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality


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.