It’s The First Dictionary Treasure Hunt!

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”—Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean

Welcome to the first Dictionary Treasure Hunt, an online activity you can use to test both your word-sleuthing and your vocabulary skills. To play, just follow the clues provided in each slide in order to find the hidden word. You’ll need to check out some Dictionary.com definition pages to verify the clues. (Helpful hint: look at word origins and related words, too!) When you get stuck, click on some of the linked words and phrases to help you figure out the clues. 

All of the words in this treasure hunt have something in common. Can you guess what it is before you reach the end of the game?

We’ve got some extra treasure for one lucky hunter: A Dictionary.com t-shirt! To win, complete all 10 clues of the treasure hunt, and share your answers with us on Twitter or Instagram by using the hashtag #DictionaryTreasureHunt and tagging @dictionarycom. One winner will be chosen at random on April 4, so check back to see if it’s you and to get the answers to all 10 clues!

Happy hunting!

(For full contest rules, check here.)

Clue #1

In legal hot water?

If so, this is the word you long to hear in association with the accusations levied against you.

Need a hint? It means that you have been cleared of wrongdoing and helps to proclaim your innocence. The evidence is what eventually helped to ___________ him.

Think you are ready to confirm? Does your guess originate in 1515–25 and have its roots in a Middle English and Latin word?

If not, try another hint: this word absolves you from criminal charges (it is even listed as one of the words related to absolve on the definition page). It was a word Robert Mueller needed to know pretty well last year.

Clue #2

New name, same problem.

If you are of a certain age, you may recall this oft-used phrase in its previous form: global warming. (A variation of this word appears on the global warming definition page, did you see it?) 

Need a hint? It’s the phrase we use to discuss the increase in Earth’s global temperature, often due to greenhouse gases, that results in changes to long-standing weather patterns. 

Think you are ready to confirm? Did your guess make its first recorded appearance between 1980–85?

If not, think about this: consider why the glaciers are melting, and what it means for life in the Arctic. Still stumped? Consider asking activist Greta Thunberg; it is a word that she knows well.

Clue #3

Read any good manifestos lately?

Similar to a manifesto, this word has been associated with long diatribes that offer extensive discourse or criticism on a topic (you can find this word alongside other words related to diatribe on the definition page). 

Need a hint? Authorities recovered the gunman’s ___________ after the attack. It offered a glimpse into his motives.

Think you are ready to confirm? Is your guess also commonly used in building trades and British dialect?

If not, think about this: the word you are looking for has its origins in the Old English word for shred. (That may be exactly how the readers of one of these manifestos may feel: shredded.)  

Clue #4

That’s, uh, not my job …

When things are outside of this range, they are said to be beyond your authority, concern, or job description. 

Need a hint? It is something you could say to both your boss and in a court of law. If you are using this word with the latter, you would use it to describe that which is within the purpose, or scope, of a legal statute. 

Think you are ready to confirm? Was your guess first recorded in 1225–75?

If not, try another hint: think back to Robert Mueller in the first slide. If you figured out that the first word was exonerate, you know that he had to use this mystery word often when discussing a certain investigation. 

Clue #5

Climate change? What climate change?

If hearing this two-word meteorological term makes you instantly start to shiver, or gives you flashbacks to that scene from The Day After Tomorrow when the team stuck at the Arctic outpost shares its final toast, then you probably live somewhere where this weather phenomenon has become a somewhat regular occurrence. (We don’t know about you, but we just can’t hear that line, “The important thing is that he will grow up” without choking up.)

Need a hint? This whirling mass of cold air comes from the same place that Santa Claus does. 

Think you are ready to confirm? Does your guess share a name with those cute white bears that are also known as Ursus maritimus (the first word of the phrase can be found on that page)?

If not, consider this: climate change, the answer from our second slide, may play a role in this winter weather woe thanks to melting sea ice in the Arctic. 

Clue #6

Well, this can’t be a good sign.

These harbingers from the Bible represent pestilence, war, famine, and death. Their arrival signifies the beginning of the end of days. 

Need a hint? Their appearances in pop culture can be seen from the hit song When the Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash to the CW’s long-running show Supernatural. And, as we said, it is never a good sign when this crew arrives. 

Think you are ready to confirm? Does this quartet make its infamous appearance in Revelation 6:2–8?

If not, try this: remember that these mythical equestrian bad omens serve just one purpose: to usher in the apocalypse. 

Clue #7

Breaking free from gendered nouns?

Used in place of gendered nouns, this descriptor of a person from Latin America has become more popular in recent years. 

Need a hint? The word replaces Latina and Latino for those who are looking for a nonbinary approach to describing their heritage. The word also appears in this story here. 

Think you are ready to confirm? Did your word make its first recorded appearance in 2000–05?

If not, consider this: March For Our Lives activist Emma Gonzalez uses this gender-free term when describing herself. 

Clue #8

Lone-wolf attacks and mob mentality …

When those two things combine, you often end up with this violent act.

Need a hint? It is not a term you hear every day (thankfully!), but this two-word phrase can be used to describe a terrorist attack that is carried out as a result of the public demonization of a person or group. It trended on our site on August 4 (which prompted us to write an explainer article about it!).

Think you are ready to confirm? Did your word make its first appearance in 2010–15?

If not, here’s another hint: think of some instances where this word would have been used to describe deadly attacks targeting a certain group or denomination that has been demonized (like the shootings that took place at Pulse nightclub and the mosques in New Zealand). 

Clue #9

Hannibal Lector said it best.

Anthony Hopkins made these three words undeniably creepy when he said them in The Silence of the Lambs, but these days they are getting a second run at infamy thanks to the 2016 election and the 24-hour news cycle. 

Need a hint? It is a Latin term for getting something in exchange for something else (no, it is not tit for tat). 

Think you are ready to confirm? Is your word derived from Latin and literally translates to “something for something?”

If not, think about this: remember that this phrase has gotten a lot of mileage on Twitter over the past few months, and it will probably continue to do so until November 2020.