Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

DISABILITY

DEFINITION:
A physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain tasks or participate in daily activities.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
The agreement last week between Disability-rights groups and Secretary of State Shirley Weber follows an Oct. 2 ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of San Francisco that the current system violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws.
►San Francisco Chronicle, 11/02/2026

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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. Precipitous

► Lacking social polish; tactless.

► Extremely rapid, hasty, or abrupt; precipitate.

► Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious.

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

2. Photosynthesis

► The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source.

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

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

► Very talkative; garrulous.

3. Detritus

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

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

► The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.

► The iron-containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells of vertebrates.

4. Nomenclature

► The iron-containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells of vertebrates.

► To insert or introduce between other elements or parts.

► A system of names used in an art or science:

► Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination.

5. Facetious

► Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance.

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

► Playfully jocular; humorous

► To make an accusation against.

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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.