Big News Words for 2022 Quiz: Top 22 Words of the Year 2022

Updated: Dec. 11, 2022.

Year-End Trivia Game: We compiled the top 22 words from our Friday news quiz weekly questions into a big fat Year-End trivia game. As 2022 draws to a close, we saw some extreme world changes and newsworthy new terms. The Words for 2022 Quiz explores such terms as the words of the year, “Gaslighting,” and “Goblin mode,” new vocabulary from NASA’s 2022 launches, and the WHO’s new term for the monkeypox pandemic of 2022.

Take the 2022 Words Quiz

News Words of 2022 Quiz

Year-End Trivia: 22 new and renewed words and terms that popped up in the news stories and headlines of 2022. No time-limit. How smart are you today?

1 / 22

1. What’s Gaslighting?

Image: HowSmart.net using DALL-E

2 / 22

2. Which word does Oxford Dictionaries define as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”?

Image: HowSmart.net using OpenAI’s Dall-E

3 / 22

3. The World Health Organization has renamed monkeypox as what?

Photo: NIAID, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

4 / 22

4. What’s Wordle?

5 / 22

5. What’s Cyberflashing?

Screenshot: Cambridge Dictionary

6 / 22

6. What’s gender-confirming (or gender-affirming) care?

Image: Jernej Furman at Flickr, CC BY 2.0

7 / 22

7. What is ChatGPT?

Image: HowSmart.net using OpenAI’s DALL·E

8 / 22

8. What Is Mastodon?

9 / 22

9. What is a leap second?

Image: HowSmart.net with Dall-E

10 / 22

10. What’s NASA’s DART?

Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

11 / 22

11. In ancient Greek mythology, Artemis is what?

Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls

12 / 22

12. What’s “status quo ante”?

Photo: U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

13 / 22

13. What are hypersonic missiles?

Screenshot: kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

14 / 22

14. What’s the common name for a completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart?

Photo: Alan Turing Statue by Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

15 / 22

15. What’s a “flue effect”?

Photo: Šarūnas Burdulis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

16 / 22

16. What does CERN stand for?

Photo: FerdinandoGior, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

17 / 22

17. What are LEO satellites?

Image: Apple

18 / 22

18. In computers: What’s an API?

Screenshot: 7NEWS – YouTube

19 / 22

19. What’s alopecia?

Screenshot: 94th Academy Awards / ABC

20 / 22

20. What’s aphasia?

Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

21 / 22

21. What’s spastic diplegia?

Screenshot: Beyoncé on YouTube

22 / 22

22. What’s a Poutine?

Photo: Yuri Long from Arlington, VA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Challenge your friends to see if any of them can do any better!

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

Found a mistake? Tell us!

Come back tomorrow for another quiz!

Guess the Celebrity Age 2022 quiz - Famous birthday trivia questions 2022 - Year-End Trivia Game

The Top 22 Words for 2022 Quiz Questions

Here’s the list of news words for 2022 quiz questions and multiple-choice answers. Feel free to use these questions and answers in your year-end trivia party.

News Words for 2022 Quiz - New Words Year-End Trivia Game

What's a "flue effect"?

Photo: Šarūnas Burdulis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s when gas changes its temperature when allowed to expand freely.
It’s when heated air rises in a shaft (or a chimney).
It’s when the frequency of a wave changes in a moving source.
It’s an auditory illusion where the listener incorrectly localizes a sound.

What’s Wordle?

A dictionary app.
A viral online wordplay game.
An anonymous messaging app.
A board game.

What’s a Poutine?

Photo: Yuri Long from Arlington, VA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Minced pork, veal or beef, and potatoes meat pie.
Shredded raw cabbage with vinaigrette or mayonnaise dressing.
A sauce made of garlic, salt, olive oil, and often egg.
Potato fries, cheese curds, and gravy.

What’s Cyberflashing?

Screenshot: Cambridge Dictionary
Large-scale disruption of computer networks.
Creating a fake identity on social platforms.
Sending non-consensual explicit photos.
A deceptive message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information.

What are hypersonic missiles?

Screenshot: kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Missiles that launch from submarines.
Missiles that issue electronic commands.
Missiles that fly at about 800 kilometers per hour (500 mph).
Missiles that fly at least 5 times the speed of sound.

What’s alopecia?

Screenshot: 94th Academy Awards / ABC
A state of tiredness.
Skeletal muscle weakness.
Blood cell deficiency.
Hair loss.

What’s aphasia?

Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A language disorder.
A hearing disorder.
An inability to process sensory information.
A visual processing disorder.

What's "status quo ante"?

Photo: U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The desired state of affairs.
The new state of affairs.
The existing state of affairs.
The previous state of affairs.

What's the common name for a completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart?

Photo: Alan Turing Statue by Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Captcha.
reCAPTCHA.
Automatic Verification.
Bot scan.

What does CERN stand for?

Photo: FerdinandoGior, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Commission for Environmental and Natural Research.
European Center for Nuclear Research.
Economic Capital Northern Research.
Central European Raving Nucleus.

What's spastic diplegia?

Screenshot: Beyoncé on YouTube
A chronic metabolic condition.
A chronic mental condition.
A dance move.
A chronic neuromuscular condition.

What are LEO satellites?

Image: Apple
Low-earth orbit satellites.
Long-earth orbit satellites.
Lunar emission oval satellites.
Low-energy operational satellites.

What's NASA's DART?

Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
An autonomous navigation system.
The Jupiter rover.
An asteroid-striking mission.
A space telescope.

In computers: What's an API?

Screenshot: 7NEWS - YouTube
Application-programming interface.
Accomplishment profiling independence.
Acting portal inline.
App-person interaction.

What's gender-confirming (or gender-affirming) care?

Image: Jernej Furman at Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Conversion “therapy.”
Men’s health care.
Women’s health care.
Transgender health care.

What Is Mastodon?

A Google search alternative.
A Netflix alternative.
A Methadone alternative.
A Twitter alternative.

In ancient Greek mythology, Artemis is what?

Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft.
The goddess of love and lust.
The goddess of hunting, nature, and child care.
The queen of the underworld.

What is a leap second?

Image: HowSmart.net with Dall-E
It’s when shares rapidly rise and then fall.
It’s when the main course in a meal is served with drinks.
It’s a one-second adjustment occasionally applied to the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
It’s when one eagerly accepts an opportunity only if offered twice.

What’s Gaslighting?

Image: HowSmart.net using DALL-E
Grossly misleading someone for one’s advantage.
Igniting intestinal gases.
Production of artificial light from gaseous fuels.
Intentionally circulating a false claim publicly.

The World Health Organization has renamed monkeypox as what?

Photo: NIAID, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Orthopox.
Mpox.
Poxy.
iPox.

Which word does Oxford Dictionaries define as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”?

Image: HowSmart.net using OpenAI’s Dall-E
The Great Resignation.
Gaslighting.
Goblin mode.
Tang ping.

What is ChatGPT?

Image: HowSmart.net using OpenAI’s DALL·E
A chatbot that tells bad jokes.
A chatbot that uses the GPT-3 language model to generate responses.
A chatbot that only talks about gossip.
A chatbot that helps users plan their day.

Top 20 Words of 2021 Trivia

Take the complete Words of 2021 Quiz with multiple-choice questions, answer explanations, and links to 2021 news stories here.

2021 News Words Quiz

What’s the original meaning of the word 'Capitol'?

Photo: Tyler Merbler, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
One of the seven hills of Rome.
The Hellenic Parliament.
The most important city or town of a country or region.
Big.

What is sedition?

Photo: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The action of alluring someone.
The administering of a drug to produce a state of calm or sleep.
The crime of betraying one's country.
A conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state.

In British slang, what does the word Chav stand for?

Photo: Neilt, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A tracksuit.
A hat.
Council housed and vain.
A slur meant at working class youngsters.

Where did the word Amazon originate?

Photo: Wonder Woman 1984, Warner Bros.
It derived from the Greek word for woman.
It derived from the Latin word for enemy.
It derived from the Persian word for warrior.
It derived from the Spanish word for fierce.

The word inauguration stems from the Latin augur. What did that mean originally?

Screenshot: NBC News on YouTube.
Examining patterns in wine.
Interpreting the will of the gods.
Precognition of the future.
Pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body.

What does the word conservator mean (in English)?

Screenshot: Framing Britney Spears / NY Times
A political right-wing tendency.
A broker of cultural artifacts.
A professional preserving animal bodies.
A legal guardian or trustee.

When British PM Boris Johnson calls the Trump impeachment over the Capitol attack a 'kerfuffle,' what does he mean?

Photo: Ben Shread / Cabinet Office
A mistake.
A fuss.
An injustice.
Justice.

What’s Libor?

Leveraged International Official Rate.
London Interbank Offered Rate.
The Roman god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom.
A person born between Sep. 23 and Oct. 22.
A form of digital art.
A digital art piece with a unique sellable identity.
Neutrally Financed Tangible art.
Neural Funnel Tunnel art.

What are AirTags?

Image: Apple
Bluetooth headphones.
A file sharing app.
A personal location device.
An air purifying technique.

What is Oman?

Photo: Andries Oudshoorn, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The capital of Jordan.
A city in Ukraine.
A Sultanate in the Arabian Peninsula.
A village in Iran.

What is a keffiyeh?

Photo: Michael Plutchok, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A religious veil for Muslim women.
A traditional Arabian headdress.
A type of headwear based on cloth winding.
A wide-brim hat.

What is “Montjoie Saint Denis!”?

Photo: U.S Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The French Revolution motto.
The old Kingdom of France battle cry.
A French cry of surprise or happiness.
Napoleon’s motto.
Prejudice against individuals with darker skin among people of the same ethnic group.
A postmodern art movement.
The art of colorizing old films.
A transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces.

What is Blackfishing?

Screenshot: Iggy Azalea on YouTube
Illegal whale fishing.
Luring someone with a fictional online persona.
Pretending to be of darker skin on social media.
Making exaggerated claims about emotional problems to get sympathy.

What do the British refer to as Freedom Day?

Photo: Ardfern, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The end of Covid-19 restrictions.
South African end of Apartheid.
It’s the British Independence Day.
The end of the British colonial era.

What's a "red tide"?

Photo: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC, via Wikimedia Commons
A political wave towards left-wing governments in Latin America.
The period between high tide and low tide when the sea level falls.
The discoloration of the sea surface by harmful algal blooms.
A cocktail comprising vodka and pomegranate juice.

What’s the (modern) meaning of the word imbecilic?

Screenshot: The Guardian on YouTube
Very delusional.
Very deceitful.
Very drunk.
Very stupid.

What's the meaning of the word Metaverse?

Screenshot: The Matrix Resurrections / Warner Bros. Pictures
The concept of parallel universes.
An analogy.
Multiple fictional stories that occur in the same environment.
Virtual meeting spaces.

What is allyship?

Screenshot: Dictionary.com
The acts of a person who marginalizes certain social groups.
The role of a person who advocates for inclusion of a marginalized group.
A large watercraft carrying the flag of a friendly country.
The pleasure of eating donuts.

Premium Downloads

We Stand with Ukraine

Flag of Ukraine

It seems everybody these days has publicly declared their position on the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. We stand with Ukraine and its people, fighting against military forces attacking civilians. We salute Ukraine’s heroic battle for democracy as we stand with every nation fighting against tyranny and for human rights. Our empathy extends to the Russian people, Belarusians, and all who suffer under oppressive governments, including soldiers forced to die in the name of their leaders. We also side with the truth, so here’s a quick list of reliable sources on the conflict.