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. Plateau

► To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

► An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.

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

► A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

2. Undulate

► To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

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

► 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.

► A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

3. Embargo

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

► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

► The arrangement of events in time

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

4. Random

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

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

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

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

5. Tempo

► 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.

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

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

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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.