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. Pulverize

Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

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

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.


2. Deign

One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

To condescend to give or grant

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


3. Rainforest

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

To proclaim publicly

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

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


4. Wretched

Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

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

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

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


5. Guru

A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,

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

The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.


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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.