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. Wretched

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

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

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


2. Flourish

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

To proclaim publicly

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

An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.


3. Protagonist

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

An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

The main character in a drama or other literary work.


4. Spectrum

A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

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


5. Toxin

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

A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

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

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


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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.