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Names for Crimes

Can you guess the names of these crimes described below?
All answers are a single word
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Last updated: November 14, 2018
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First submittedJanuary 23, 2013
Times taken131,615
Average score54.5%
Rating4.68
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Description
Crime
Illegal fire-starting
Arson
Intentional homicide
Murder
Mugging, for example
Robbery
Abducting a person
Kidnapping
Defamation in print
Libel
Spoken defamation
Slander
Lying in court
Perjury
Having two spouses
Bigamy
Hanging around too long
Loitering
Defacing property
Vandalism
Blackmail
Extortion
Illegal importation
Smuggling
Illegal hunting
Poaching
Shopping for a prostitute
Solicitation
Stealing from your employer, for example
Embezzlement
Being where you're not supposed to
Trespass
The act of betraying one's country
Treason
Illegal deception for personal gain
Fraud
Sneaking in and stealing something
Burglary
Illegal payments in exchange for influence
Bribery
Physical assault
Battery
Meeting to arrange a future crime
Conspiracy
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100 Recent Comments
PorcNBeanz
+7
Level 57
Apr 22, 2015
I feel like blackmail could also be "coercion".
PitifulExcuse
+5
Level 65
Mar 8, 2024
Sadly your feelings count for little around here.

Hope that doesn't make you feel bad.

RaspberryBeret
+13
Level 58
Mar 25, 2025
It took you nine years to come up with that comeback??
bearwife2
+1
Level 32
Mar 25, 2025
LMAOOOOO
halpie
+1
Level 81
Apr 23, 2015
I thought payola should be accepted for bribery, but I understand that it's not precisely the same.
manchesterutd10
+1
Level 59
Oct 5, 2015
10th grade business law helped!
WanderingWalrus
+6
Level 82
Oct 12, 2016
To those asking for kidnap to be accepted - the offence is defined (in all legal codes of which I am aware, and certainly in the UK and the US) as 'kidnapping'. The word 'kidnap' is occasionally used in legal journals, and even government documents, to refer to the laws concerning abduction generally, but the statutes and common law offences (and therefore the indictment) always refer to 'kidnapping'.

To ask for 'kidnap' to be accepted is like asking for 'Solicit' or 'Burgle' (or, conversely 'Murdering')

So, the Quizmaster is entirely correct in refusing to allow kidnap.

I agree with kdc4 - robbery and mugging require force or its threat whereas theft does not. Therefore theft should NOT be accepted.

@BazMcHat - unless it has changed since I left UK law school 30 years ago, libel IS a criminal offence in the UK (whereas slander is not). Both are torts (as indeed are most crimes).

Despite all the above, I only got 4 as I couldn't think of Poaching.

bonushi
+2
Level 23
Oct 24, 2016
Love the quiz! Can you add more, please? :D
jd2001wizard
+23
Level 64
May 28, 2017
I missed 50% of these. I only got correct those that I have committed.
Historyman0
+2
Level 38
Dec 14, 2020
.........
Fianchetto
+14
Level 79
Nov 14, 2023
Do you have 100% by now? You've had 6 more years.
DarthCaedus66
+1
Level 12
Jun 1, 2017
Robbery and burglary are technically the same thing
WanderingWalrus
+11
Level 82
Jun 1, 2017
Not in the UK at least. Robbery is theft with violence whereas burglary is theft with trespass.
spingospungo
+3
Level 56
Jul 13, 2022
The definition's actually wider than that in the UK - burglary is trespass with intent to commit theft, assault or criminal damage. The trespass can be of a part of the building where you're not entitled to be.

So if you go behind the counter at KFC to throw onion rings at the staff, you're technically guilty of burglary. And who among us can say we haven't been tempted?

ander217
+3
Level 73
Jun 1, 2017
They aren't in the US, either. However definitions differ from state to state. For example, in Missouri, a charge of First Degree Burglary requires that someone who is armed, unlawfully enters or remains in a structure where another person is present who is not involved in the burglary. Second Degree Burglary is simply unlawfully entering a building with the intent to commit a crime. Second Degree Robbery is forcibly taking property and causing physical injury, while First Degree Robbery is forcibly stealing property while either seriously injuring another, having a deadly weapon, displaying a real or fake weapon, threatening another with a weapon, or stealing controlled substances from a pharmacy. Unless QM wanted to list all the definitions from each state and country, he did fine with the quiz the way it is.
DKChappell
+1
Level 35
Dec 14, 2020
It's interesting that you cite Missouri for all of those definitions, and I completely agree with your assessment. However, here in the Ozarks, the ultimate designation for those committing such acts is..."the recently deceased."
Freestatebear
+1
Level 88
Nov 18, 2023
In my part of the world, robbery is stealing from someone with their knowledge and against their will (e.g., a mugging), whereas burglary is doing it covertly (sneaking in someone's house).
Trix
+1
Level 55
Jun 1, 2017
Trespass isn't a crime in the United Kingdom. Maybe specify that this is for US crimes?
Corrode
+7
Level 60
Jun 1, 2017
It can be. Mostly it's a tort and therefore a civil issue, but criminal trespass exists in the UK - Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994.
ebarky
+2
Level 56
Jun 1, 2017
For sneaking in and stealing something, could you accept breaking and entering as a possible answer?
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Jul 22, 2022
Read the caveats
maxvenble
+5
Level 45
Jun 1, 2017
Blackmail and extortion are two different things. Doesn't make sense to use blackmail as a description for extortion or vice versa.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Jun 1, 2017
For fraud, I was thinking identity theft, but I forgot it can only be 1 word.
bestanford
+4
Level 73
Sep 22, 2017
Embezzlement seemed a little vague from the clue
McLerristarr
+8
Level 62
Nov 23, 2018
Agreed. Embezzlement is a financial crime. Not all stealing from your employer is embezzlement. You can't embezzle pens from your office.
OfficerDibble
+23
Level 86
Feb 25, 2019
try stopping me
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Apr 20, 2019
Haha
divantilya
+2
Level 36
Apr 21, 2019
^ +1 - Taking a pen or a ream of paper is simple theft, not embezzlement. Embezzlement means appropriating money that is not yours, such as altering the books to conceal your embezzlement, breaking open the company safe or stealing and cashing checks made out to your boss or forging his signature to obtain funds from the company's bank account..
LKWH
+4
Level 43
Apr 21, 2020
Completely agree. Embezzlement had an incorrect description. The description had me thinking of employees taking home a few office supplies. The clue should make mention of misappropriation of money as your own. This really should be corrected.
JudgeRudy
+1
Level 67
Jul 13, 2022
Only one I missed. Tried theft, conversion, misappropriation, probably should have gotten to embezzlement but I gave up.
fullero
+1
Level 83
Apr 20, 2019
I think vagrancy should be accepted alongside loitering
divantilya
+2
Level 36
Apr 21, 2019
A vagrant is someone who has set up house illegally (on the streets or in an abandoned building for example), while a loiterer is someone who frequents any particular location (like hanging out on corner, watching all the girls go by) for either nefarious purposes (to "case" a building, for example) or simply to annoy.
SpacemanSpiff
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2019
I think "libel" and "slander" are torts, not crimes.
myguy
+1
Level 48
Apr 21, 2019
this was a great one! I wouldn't mind another, although it might be hard to find.
Shadywyvern
+2
Level 85
Apr 21, 2019
For bigamy, can you accept polygamy as well?
divantilya
+2
Level 36
Apr 21, 2019
s sated previously, BIgamy is two wives; POLYgamy is many wives. While Bigamy is technically polygamy, the word would not exist if it did not specifically meant to refer to two, rather than many.
AlexThirkell
+5
Level 74
Apr 28, 2020
I don't buy that, having 2 wives could be described as either, so either should be accepted. And in most cases only polygamy is used because it doesn't unnecessarily restrict the scope of the crime.
HinesBrothers
+1
Level 78
Apr 29, 2020
However, if you guys want to get that technical, I believe the question asks for having two spouses, and Bigamy specifically means two wives. I believe there is a different word for multiple spouses and thus, bigamy is technically incorrect.
DKChappell
+3
Level 35
Dec 14, 2020
If we wanted to get EXTREMELY technical, "bigamy," and "polygamy" both refer to having two, or many WIVES. The question asked about "spouses," and those women guilty of "polyandry" have multiple husbands.
JPR
+2
Level 41
Jan 18, 2021
Sated=freudian slip? ;-)
TD91
+16
Level 46
Feb 3, 2020
I gotta crime: I break into Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No, I go for the chandelier. It's priceless. As I'm taking it down, a woman catches me. She tells me to stop. It's her father's business. She's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning, the cops come and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to meet me in Mexico, but I go to Canada. I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later, I get a postcard. I have a son and he's the chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet me in Paris by the Trocadero. She's been waiting for me all these years. She's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin. That's where I stashed the chandelier.
JudgeRudy
+6
Level 67
Jul 13, 2022
Burglary, theft, resisting law enforcement, impersonating a law enforcement officer, and felony non-support of a dependent are the only ones I'm seeing. Although choosing a chandelier stashed in Germany over marrying into the Tiffany fortune is clearly your dumbest move.
LKWH
+1
Level 43
Apr 21, 2020
I thin the definition for trespass needs some work. Being where you don't belong is much to vague and doesn't really fit the crime.
TStep
+3
Level 36
Apr 27, 2020
Great quiz! Could you please consider multiple spellings for perjury? I tried everything from purjery to purgery and perjory, but somehow never landed on the correct spelling.
ThePerfectBoing
+1
Level 43
Aug 4, 2024
Learn the correct spelling.... you wouldn't see a school boy begging his teacher to accept "Elifant" when he got an F on his test.
Jacktheguy
+5
Level 93
Apr 28, 2020
I wonder how many of these Trump is guilty of? Gotta be at least one.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 82
Apr 28, 2020
Got robbery by typing theft, but missed burglary.
callmekeeper
+1
Level 41
Oct 29, 2024
all of 'em, now
BobIsACoprophage
+1
Level 60
Apr 28, 2020
Please accept "bribe" and "bribing" for bribery.
Salz
+1
Level 62
Apr 28, 2020
Could you accept just "kidnap"?
RITB
+1
Level 64
Apr 29, 2020
This was a harder quiz than other ones
ing
+7
Level 73
Apr 29, 2020
Depending on how hard you hit someone, I guess there are different types of battery: AA, AAA, etc.
kinjapan
+1
Level 72
Apr 29, 2020
Damn current events. I could only think of quid pro quo for bribery.
mapjunkie95
+1
Level 39
May 23, 2020
dang I kept typing in poligamy.
SexyMarxPants
+6
Level 72
Aug 1, 2020
Burglary is trespass with the intent to commit a felony within the premises. The felony does not need to be theft, although that is the most common. Note that burglary requires ‘intent’ only; there is typically no requirement that the felony actually be committed (requirements vary slightly by state). However, burglary is always punished more severely than theft when the stolen goods are the same value.

Robbery is theft using violence or the threat of violence. The penalties are much more severe than mere theft. If you stole a $100 watch, you might not even get jail time. But point a gun at someone and steal an identical watch, and you’re likely looking at years in prison.

TL;DR: The terms ‘burglary’, ‘robbery’, and ‘theft’ are literally different crimes, with different requirements and very different sentences. Burglary doesn’t require theft; theft cannot include violence; and robbers must use violence. They are not interchangeable.

P.S. I’m a lawyer; we nitpick professionally.

JudgeRudy
+2
Level 67
Jul 13, 2022
I would also point out that, historically, and even as recently as when I started practice, burglary typically included that the building or structure into which one gained unauthorized access with the intent to commit a felony be a "dwelling". This made sense that burglary, carrying stiffer penalties than theft in most jurisdictions, involve the violation of one's home. You accurately state that most jurisdictions have watered that down to include any building or structure and even in some jurisdictions include businesses open to the public during business hours as to anyone who's ever been "banned" from such store. Just the logical fallout of our great plutocracy; corporate rights and individual burdens are expanding while corporate burdens and individual rights are contracting.
lisachristine
+1
Level 69
Mar 24, 2025
Where I live, Residential Burglary is the crime where you break into a home with the intent to commit a felony therein. It carries with it a penalty of mandatory prison time. Breaking into any other type of building or structure is probation-able is just regular Burglary. Breaking into a vehicle is a lesser class felony than regular burglary unless the act of the burglary caused damage to the vehicle, then it's the same class. And you can burglarize a Wal-Mart, even though you are an invited guest, if you enter a restricted portion of the store, such as employees only area, with the intent to commit a felony.
nobrain
+1
Level 56
Aug 24, 2020
Please add kidnap as a legal answer
Neodymium
+1
Level 63
Mar 23, 2025
all of the answers are illegal
JohnnyYeet
+1
Level 66
Sep 25, 2020
Polygamy for Bigamy?
Potatoe1187
+1
Level 66
Apr 4, 2021
I wouldn’t mind if you made more of these, they were kind of entertaining.
Jango
+1
Level 63
Sep 24, 2021
It would be helpful if you specified these are US terms. For example, under Scottish law, there is no such term as arson. The equivalent here is the much more descriptive term, 'wilful fire-raising'
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Jul 22, 2022
It is two words, so it's not an answer irregardless of US terms or not.
Koopa
+2
Level 88
May 1, 2022
Any reason why trespass does not contain the "-ing" like some of the others?

Very fun quiz. I was surprised not to see larceny on there.

MD396
+2
Level 58
May 7, 2022
OH COME ON I DID VANDALIZE AND ROBBING
tshalla
+10
Level 78
Jul 13, 2022
Let's hope they're your first offences.
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
May 17, 2025
this is a confession
My3dviews
+1
Level 57
Jul 13, 2022
Polygamy should also be accepted, as it means having more than one wife.
QuizApe
+1
Level 72
Jul 13, 2022
I knew a lot of this but I had difficulty spelling them due to my dyslexia.
spingospungo
+3
Level 56
Jul 13, 2022
The distinction given between libel and slander - in the UK at least - isn't quite right. Libel is something expressed in a permanent form and slander is in a fleeting form. So words spoken in a movie would be libel.
MaxTheAxe
+3
Level 75
Jul 13, 2022
Kept waiting for one of the answers to be regicide. One of my favorite random jokes from the Simpsons: "If you know the king or queen being murdered, press one!"
dobbledab
+1
Level 49
Jul 13, 2022
good quiz!
dobbledab
+2
Level 49
Jul 13, 2022
the pedantry with whats illegal and whats a civil offence in a particular country is all pointless. Quiz is fine as it stands
driehoek25
+1
Level 70
Jul 13, 2022
How can be "Hanging around for too long." be illegal?
jmellor13
+4
Level 68
Jul 13, 2022
It's not actually hanging around too long that's the crime. Loitering is when you defy a lawful order to leave the premises. So you can stand in one place for 36 hours if you want, but if you stand there for 30 minutes, and a cop tells you to move, and you don't, you're loitering. You need to establish you have a reason to be where you are to defy their order. The law is absurd in my view, but it's misunderstood. It's not about how long you've been standing around, but whether you ignore the police's order to leave.
Gllombfek
+2
Level 54
Jul 13, 2022
When I saw this name first, I thought it was "Names for Crimea"!
Damangio
+1
Level 64
Jul 13, 2022
So did I!
mal
+3
Level 64
Jul 13, 2022
I wasn't thinking big enough with stealing from my employer, I was thinking stapler and pens!! And I couldn't remember the arranging a future crime and all I could think of was "plotting" which seems perfectly reasonable LOL
MDW
+3
Level 56
Jul 14, 2022
Surely 'kidnap' is a good as 'kidnapping'
In2restingFacts
+1
Level 27
Feb 28, 2025
agreed
kalbahamut
+2
Level 79
Jul 15, 2022
I think I commented before that I could think of someone who had committed most of the crimes on this list. Comment is gone now. Not surprising the evidence has gone missing. Obstruction of justice also on the offenders' long list of prosecutable misdeeds.
cuendillar
+6
Level 71
Jul 28, 2022
The police got summoned to a preschool due to a report that someone was resisting a rest. When they arrived, they became witnesses to a kid napping.
ergillo
+1
Level 56
Nov 6, 2022
I think you should allow adjectives to the terms you are asking for, like bribing for bribery and conspiring for conspiracy. A lot of us don't speak english as a first language therefore we can't remember every little term.
janAlesanta
+1
Level 43
Dec 8, 2022
theft is not the same as robbery; it should not be accepted as the answer to that one
quantum12354
+2
Level 55
Oct 30, 2023
thank god for law and order, wouldn't have gotten perjury, extortion or solicitation without it.
cpgatbyu
+1
Level 88
Nov 14, 2023
"Crime doesn't pay - except for some of the white collar ones."

And the Lufthansa heist. And the British Bank of the Mideast robbery. And the Northern Bank robbery. Etc.

Azerk
+1
Level 64
Nov 14, 2023
"Tresspass" should be accepted as a type-in
mikeyheath92
+2
Level 48
Nov 14, 2023
Or you should learn to spell.
mikeyheath92
+1
Level 48
Nov 14, 2023
How did I forget fraud? Agh.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 63
Oct 29, 2024
And you're a level 49 quizzer? You must be a fraud!
jtjerue
+1
Level 55
Nov 16, 2023
Couldn't we take "vandalize" for vandalism?
dunkinggandalf2
+3
Level 72
Nov 23, 2023
I once illegally hunted an egg. It was delicious.
ItzIngenious
+2
Level 66
Jan 19, 2025
I would suggest accepting vandalizing, as it says ‘defacing’, which could imply present tense.
In2restingFacts
+4
Level 27
Feb 28, 2025
Question: "Having two spouses"

Me: "Polygamy", "duogamy", "digamy", "adultery",... "cheating???"

Pontiac
+1
Level 62
Mar 23, 2025
couldnt think of any!
Neodymium
+2
Level 63
Mar 23, 2025
funny comments section!
Sifhraven
+2
Level 76
Mar 23, 2025
Why isn't bribing accepted, embezzling is for embezzlement for example. (I tried bribe too btw)
Feech
+1
Level 53
Apr 22, 2025
please accept criminal damage for vandalism Thank you
Auskooper
+1
Level 36
Jan 22, 2026
For the intentional killing, I think of first degree or second degree murder, not just simply "murder" like murder in general. I feel like "second degree murder" and "first degree murder" should be accepted for simply murder as they could refer to intentional killings. The only difference is that if it was planned. Still both crimes refer to killings that are intentional
carrotmonke2390
+1
Level 31
Mar 20, 2026
I've invented 18 crimes, such as burglebezzlement.
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