Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

INSPECTOR

DEFINITION:
An official employed to ensure that official regulations are obeyed, especially in public services.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are federal employees, and misconduct allegations are typically investigated by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility or by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of inspector General.
►The Key West Citizen, 03/16/2026

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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. Wretched

► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

► 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.

► Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.

► Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

2. Sacrifice

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

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

► To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

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

3. Bandolier

► The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

► An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.

► A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

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

4. Divulge

► To proclaim publicly

► Being without or almost without hope

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

► A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

5. Suffrage

► A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

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

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

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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.