NIE | theforum | Words in the News

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. Gamete

► The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

► Having a bad disposition; surly.

► A diligent, dependable worker.

► A reproductive cell having the haploid number of chromosomes, especially a mature sperm or egg capable of fusing with a gamete of the opposite sex to produce the fertilized egg.

2. Facetious

► Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.

► Playfully jocular; humorous

► An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy.

► To make an accusation against.

3. Diffident

► To make an accusation against.

► A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.

► Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid.

► Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid.

4. Expurgate

► Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

► Either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.

► Lacking social polish; tactless.

► To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication.

5. Polymer

► Any of numerous natural and synthetic compounds consisting of up to millions of repeated linked units,

► To repeat in concise form. To make a summary.

► Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.

► Division into ordered groups or categories.

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.

PETITIONER

Words in the News Quiz
5 High School Words

PETITIONER
DEFINITION: A person who pleads with a governmental institution for a legal remedy or a redress of grievances, through the use of a petition.	FOUND IN THE NEWS: While presenting the citizens’ petition for debate at the April 11 Spring Town Meeting, petitioners argued that ICE operations in Plymouth have “created fear” and “disrupted lives” among the immigrant community, leading to what they call a distrust of local police. ►The Boston Herald, 04/20/2026

PETITIONER

Words in the News Quiz5 High School Words

Words in the News Quiz
5 High School Words