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

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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. Levee

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

Harmful, malevolent, injurious. Harmfully cancerous.

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

An embankment built to prevent flooding


2. Jovial

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

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


3. Decorum

Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.


4. Spectrum

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.

A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

A schedule of prices or fees.

The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.


5. Guerrilla

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.


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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.