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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. Jaunty

A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.

Having a buoyant or self-confident air; brisk.


2. Impertinent

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

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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

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


3. Marsupial

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

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

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

The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.


4. Renaissance

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.

A rebirth or revival.

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.


5. Bamboozle

Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

An embankment built to prevent flooding


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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.