Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

WILDFIRE

DEFINITION:
An unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but a long drought, low humidity and strong winds were fueling them.
The Key West Citizen, 04/27/2026

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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. Tumult

A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.

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

A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.


2. 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

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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


3. Toxin

Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.


4. Tempo

To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

A schedule of prices or fees.

Being without or almost without hope

A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace


5. Stereotype

To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

Of or relating to the range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 4 nanometers, on the border of the x-ray region, to about 380 nanometers, just beyond the violet in the visible spectrum.

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

The right or privilege of voting; franchise.


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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.