Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

OVERZEALOUS

DEFINITION:
Showing too much energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union, attributed the encounter to an “overzealous poll worker who was complaining to the officer that the councilor shouldn’t have even been inside.”
The Boston Herald, 11/17/2025

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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. Nuisance

A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.

The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

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


2. Lichen

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

Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

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

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy


3. Immune

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

A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

Being without or almost without hope

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.


4. Unanimous

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

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

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

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


5. Silhouette

To condescend to give or grant

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

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

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief


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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.