Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

FOOTHOLD

DEFINITION:
A position usable as a base for further advance.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Growing national anxiety over the impact of massive data centers on communities has found a foothold in Greater Boston in the form of Markley’s Lowell location.
The Boston Herald, 08/10/2026

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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. somber

The act of inhabiting; state of inhabiting or dwelling, or of being inhabited; occupancy.

A process by which a task is completed; a way of doing something.

Anything that may be possible; a possibility

Dark or dreary in character; joyless, and grim.


2. unsightly

Displeasing to the eye

Strange or mysterious, esp. in an unsettling way

A particular geographic region.

Speech or language that is incomprehensible or unintelligible; gibberish.


3. obstacles

A particular geographic region.

Speech or language that is incomprehensible or unintelligible; gibberish.

Natural ability to acquire knowledge or skill.

Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress


4. element

The quantity of motion of a moving body; the impetus gained by a moving object

Existing or occurring at the moment.

Anticipating something with anxiety or fear.

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.


5. diminish

A long flat-topped fixture in a store or bank across which business is conducted with customers.

The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.

To make smaller.

Exhibiting guilty or evasive secrecy.


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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.