Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
►The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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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. Exult

► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant

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

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

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

2. Impertinent

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

► An embankment built to prevent flooding

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

3. Nuisance

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

► The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

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

4. Participle

► A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.

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

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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

5. Marsupial

► Self-examination.

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

► Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

► Selecting or employing individual elements from a variety of sources, systems, or styles

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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.