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
► Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.
► To condescend to give or grant
► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night
2. Repose
► Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd
► The act of resting or the state of being at rest.
► To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive
3. Vertebrate
► An embankment built to prevent flooding
► Having a backbone or spinal column.
► One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.
4. Recede
► One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.
► To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.
► The arrangement of events in time
► To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark
5. Vacillate
► A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).
► To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.
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.