Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
►The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

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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. Jaunty

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

► A Y-shaped protein on the surface of B cells that is secreted into the blood or lymph in response to an antigenic stimulus

► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.

2. Mutation

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

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

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

► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant

3. Aspire

► The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

► A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

4. Commemorate

► To honor the memory of with a ceremony

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

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

► A cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

5. Renegade

► One that speaks for, represents, or advocates

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

► Self-examination.

► Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

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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.