Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

OVERZEALOUS

DEFINITION:
Showing too much energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, attributed the encounter to an “overzealous poll worker who was complaining to the officer that the councilor shouldn’t have even been inside.”
The Boston Herald, 11/17/2025

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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. Maneuver

An embankment built to prevent flooding

A proportional part or share.

Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.


2. Boisterous

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline


3. Deign

The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

Having a backbone or spinal column.

To condescend to give or grant

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.


4. Kilometer

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

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

Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit


5. Nebula

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness


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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.