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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. Strategy

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

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

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.


2. Polygon

To proclaim publicly

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

The arrangement of events in time

A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.


3. Bandolier

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

A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.

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

An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.


4. Jovial

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

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

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

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.


5. Bizarre

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.

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.

Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

A relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.


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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.