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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

LITIGANT

DEFINITION:
Someone involved in a lawsuit.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
With the widespread and transformative use of artificial intelligence — particularly generative AI — in daily life, federal and state courts in New Mexico are finding self-represented litigants and some attorneys filing legal cases containing false or misleading information.
►The Albuquerque Journal, 04/13/2026

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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. Metaphor

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

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

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

2. Renegade

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

► One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

► 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.

3. Gargoyle

► Being without or almost without hope

► Self-examination.

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

4. Yacht

► A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.

► Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

► A proportional part or share.

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

5. Technique

► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

► A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

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

► A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

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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.