Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

INCARCERATED

DEFINITION:
Confined in a jail or prison.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is restricting access to rehabilitative programming for incarcerated people as it clamps down on overtime spending before the end of its financial year.
The Los Angeles Times, 06/29/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle 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. Repose

The main character in a drama or other literary work.

The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

Being without or almost without hope


2. Xylem

An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

One that speaks for, represents, or advocates

The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion


3. Nocturnal

Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.


4. Alliteration

Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.


5. Rainforest

A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.


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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.