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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 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. Jejune

Logical incongruity

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

Not interesting; dull:

To repeat in concise form. To make a summary.


2. Notarize

To seize another’s place, authority, or possession wrongfully.

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

Noninterference in the affairs of others.

To certify or attest to (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public.


3. Obsequious

Extremely rapid, hasty, or abrupt; precipitate.

To show servile deference.

Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination.

Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.


4. Loquacious

Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy.

Feeling or showing haughty disdain.

Very talkative; garrulous.


5. Antebellum

A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary

A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life,

Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.

Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.


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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.