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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

BILLIONAIRE

DEFINITION:
One whose wealth is estimated at a billion or more dollars, pounds, or other monetary units.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
About a dozen people took part in the “March for billionaires” on Saturday morning in San Francisco to raise awareness about the plight of the ultrarich.
The Los Angeles Times, 02/09/2026

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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. Mutation

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

A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.


2. Tranquility

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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

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

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


3. Plateau

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.

An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.

Being without or almost without hope

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.


4. Bizarre

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

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

Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

One that speaks for, represents, or advocates


5. Laconic

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative

Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.


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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.