Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

THRESHOLD

DEFINITION:
A level, point, or value at which something is true.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Child poverty — an assessment of whether pretax income for households with children falls below the latest poverty threshold — declined more significantly in New Mexico in the last three years, dropping from an estimated rate of 24.2% between 2022 and 2024 to 20.9% from 2023 to 2025.
►The Albuquerque Journal, 09/28/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 High 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. Bowdlerize

► A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone.

► A stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary:

► A part, portion, or share.

► To modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing the content in a certain manner.


2. Filibuster

► The iron-containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells of vertebrates.

► The clear, yellowish fluid portion of blood, lymph, or intramuscular fluid in which cells are suspended.

► The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

► Of or relating to money


3. Irony

► The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.

► The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.

► To picture falsely; misrepresent.

► Very talkative; garrulous.


4. Auspicious

► Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

► The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source.

► A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.

► A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.


5. Nonsectarian

► A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

► Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination.

► Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance.

► A product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away; debris.


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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.