Riddles for kids are widely considered to be not only entertaining but also a great learning opportunity. However, when it comes to riddles for adults, their developmental value is often overlooked.
A riddle can be defined as a verbal puzzle that is presented in the form of a question or a statement. Usually, the answer lies in the double meaning of certain words, different interpretations, or your ability to think unconventionally. It has been proven through research that puzzles of all sorts are very beneficial for the brain at any age, as they help us keep an agile mind, exercise critical thinking, and stay sharp.
Of course, adult brain teasers tend to be more complex because the life experience we’ve accumulated while growing up enables us to see hidden layers that will help solve the riddle. And while some easy riddles exist more for fun than to exercise your brain cells, there are some hard riddles too that will take quite some thinking before you can find the answer.
We have collected some riddles of various levels of difficulty. Try solving them all yourself before peeking at the answers. You could even hold a riddle game with your friends and see who can solve the most riddles.
#1
What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
#2
What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less?
#3
The person who made it doesn’t need it. The person who bought it doesn’t want it. The person who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?
#4
I weaken all men for hours each day. I show you strange visions while you are away. I take you by night, by day take you back, None suffer to have me, but do from my lack. What am I?
#5
What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?
#6
What thrives when you feed it, but dies when you water it?
#7
What is one thing that all people, regardless of their politics or religion, have to agree is between heaven and earth?
#8
I do not speak, cannot hear or say anything, but I will always tell the truth. What am I?
#9
What starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
#10
What has a bottom at the top?
#11
Turn me on my side, and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
#12
You walk into a room with a rabbit holding a carrot, a pig eating slop, and a chimp holding a banana. Which animal in the room is the smartest?
#13
What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
#14
What do you have to break before you can use it?
#15
A plane crashed on the border of Spain and Portugal. Where were the survivors buried?
#16
What month of the year has 28 days in it?
#17
If your uncle’s sister is not your aunt, then who is she to you?
#18
What belongs to you, but is used by everyone you meet?
#19
What word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
#20
What can you catch, but not throw?
#21
Two people are born at the same moment, but they don’t have the same birthdays. How?
#22
I have only two words but thousands of letters. What am I?
#23
You can you hold me in your right hand, but never in your left hand. What am I?
#24
What does nobody want, yet nobody wants to lose?
#25
What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?
#26
What has 13 hearts but no other organs?
#27
What gets shorter as it grows older?
#28
What word contains 26 letters, but has only three syllables?
#29
What do you lose the moment you share it?
#30
I am harder to catch the faster you run. What am I?
#31
I have many keys, but I can’t open a single lock. What am I?
#32
If you throw a blue stone into the Red Sea, what will it become?
#33
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
#34
They come out at night without being called, and are lost in the day without being stolen. What are they?
#35
I have keys, but no locks. I have space, but no room. You can enter, but you cannot go outside. What am I?
#36
What is full of holes, but still holds water?
#37
You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible?
#38
I taste better than I smell. What am I?
#39
I can be hot or cold. I can run and be still. I can be hard and soft. What am I?
#40
What has many teeth, but cannot bite?
#41
What can fill a room, but takes up no space?
#42
A king, queen and two twins all lay in a large room. How are there no adults in the room?
#43
I don’t have eyes, but once I did see. Once I had thoughts, but now I’m white and empty. What am I?
#44
What do the letter “t” and an island have in common?
#45
The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
#46
A man was just doing his job when his suit was torn. He died a few minutes later. Why?
#47
What is the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?
#48
I can break, I can get clogged, I can be attacked, I can be given, I can be kept, I can be crushed, yet I can be whole at the same time. What am I?
#49
What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don’t want to use it?
#50
What’s lighter than a feather, but impossible to hold for much more than a minute?
#51
What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you?
#52
My head is red, but if you scratch me it’s getting black. What am I?
#53
I am a hunter, but I don’t have a rifle, I lay net but I am not a fisherman. What am I?
#54
What is always in front of you, but can’t be seen?
#55
What type of cheese is made backward?
#56
I am an odd number. Take away just one letter and I become even. What number am I?
#57
If an electric train is traveling south, then which way is the smoke going?
#58
I have four wings, but cannot fly, I never laugh and never cry; On the same spot I’m always found, toiling away with little sound. What am I?
#59
Thirty white horses on a red hill, First they champ, Then they stamp, Then they stand still.
#60
I have cities, but not houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have coasts, but no sand. What am I?
#61
What do you tell yourself when you wake up late for work and realize you have a fever?
#62
Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?
#63
Two mums and two daughters went out for dinner and each ate one portion. Only three portions were eaten in total, how is this possible?
#64
Who has married many people, but has never been married himself?
#65
What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
#66
When it is alive we sing, when it is dead we clap our hands. What is it?
#67
What can’t be burned during a fire not either drowned in water?
#68
I have words, but I never speak. What am I?
#69
I begin with an “E” and contain just one letter. What am I?
#70
The answer I give is “yes”, but what I mean is “no”. What was the question?
#71
Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday?
#72
Some say I put doctors out of business. Sometimes I am sour. Other times, I am sweet. You can eat me, and you can drink me. What am I?
#73
Sam’s dad has 3 daughters. Two are named Stephanie and Amanda. What’s the name of the third daughter?
#74
How do you know that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are about to get married?
#75
Why did the invisible man turn down a job offer?
#76
Lovely and round, I’m shimmery white, grown in the darkness, a lady’s delight. What am I?
#77
What can’t talk, but will reply when spoken to?
#78
I have four wheels and flies. What am I?
#79
What type of building contains the most stories?
#80
How can kids drink beer and not get drunk?
#81
What gets wet while drying?
#82
People make me, save me, change me, raise me. What am I?
#83
I have a neck but no head. What am I?
#84
What gets smaller every time it takes a bath?
#85
What do you bury when it’s alive and dig up when it’s dead?
#86
A man goes outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat, but doesn’t get a single hair on his head wet. How?
#87
Often held, but never touched, Always wet, but never rusts, Often bites, but seldom bit, To use me well you must have wit. What am I?
#88
The day before yesterday I was 21, and next year I will be 24. When is my birthday?
#89
If you are running a race and pass the person in second, then what place are you in?
#90
If the day before yesterday was the 23rd, then what will be the day after tomorrow?
#91
A is B’s father, but B isn’t A’s son. How?
#92
What is the best cure for dandruff?
#93
There are two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What is it?
#94
Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you will die. What is it?
#95
You walk into a room that contains a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle and a fireplace. What should you light first?
#96
I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I?
#97
What goes all around the world, but stays in a corner?
#98
A man rode into town on Tuesday and left a few days later on Tuesday. How is that possible?
#99
What cuts across cities and fields, but never moves?
#100
A man and his boss have the same parents, but they are not siblings. How is this possible?
#101
A man is preparing for a business trip. He stops by his office on the way to the airport. The night watchman stops him before he leaves and asks him not to get on the flight. He explains he had a dream the plane crashed and everyone on board died. The man does cancel his trip. And sure enough, the plane does crash, killing everyone on board. He gave the watchman a few thousand dollars for saving his life and then fired him. Why?
#102
When my dad was 31, I was just 8 years old. Now his age is twice as old as my age. What is my current age?
#103
It is 9 a.m. now. Josephine studies for 2 hours, takes a bath for 1 hour and then has lunch for 1 hour. How many hours are left before 9 a.m. tomorrow?
#104
There is an empty basket that is one foot in diameter. What is the total number of eggs that you can put in this empty basket?
#105
What is the smallest number that increases by 12 when it is flipped and turned upside-down?
#106
I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit. My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
#107
When someone asks Michael how old he is, he replies, “In two years I will be twice as old as I used to be five years ago.” How old is he?
#108
If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
#109
What do you call two Italian ants in love?
#110
Why did the banker break up with his girlfriend?
#111
I am present at the beginning of love; the start of life and I am the end of evil. What am I?
#112
Most of the time, my color is red, I am beautiful, and everyone loves me, especially ladies. Sometimes I can hurt you. I don’t mean it, I am sorry. What am I?
#113
I am a nine-lettered word and rhyme with perfection. People use me as another name for love. What am I?
#114
What can fill a room, but takes up no space?
#115
I have a head and a tail but no body. What am I?
#116
I have legs, but I do not walk? What am I?
#117
What comes at the end of everything?
#118
What has three feet. but cannot walk?
#119
What do you call a nose that’s 12 inches long?
#120
What runs around a whole yard without moving?
#121
What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
#122
What’s always found on the ground, but never gets dirty?
#123
What goes up but never comes down?
#124
What’s a single-digit number with no value?
#125
What’s always running, but never gets hot?
#126
What do you see once in June, twice in November, and not at all in May?
#127
A mother and father have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?
#128
A man looks at a painting in a museum and says, “Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the painting?
#129
My life is often a volume of grief, your help is needed to turn a new leaf. Stiff is my spine and my body is pale, but I’m always ready to tell a tale. What am I?
#130
How can you drop a raw egg on the concrete floor without cracking it?
#131
I can’t be bought, but I can be stolen with a glance. I’m worthless to one, but priceless to two. What am I?
#132
What’s as small as a mouse, but guards a house like a lion?
#133
What has roots that no one sees and rises much higher than trees? Yet does not grow. What is it?
#134
When you hear about me, I deserve everything. When you find out who am I, I am nothing. Who am I?
#135
Alexa has four daughters, and each one has a brother. How many children does she have in total?
#136
How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
#137
If it takes 5 elves, 5 minutes to make 5 dolls, then how long will it take 100 elves to make 100 dolls?
#138
What can you find in a cupboard that can never be put in a saucepan?
#139
Whoever makes it doesn’t tell. Whoever takes it doesn’t know. Whoever knows it doesn’t want. What is it?
#140
I don’t have eyes, ears, nose and tongue, but I can see, smell, hear and taste everything. What am I?
#141
People knead me to buy things. What am I?
#142
Thousands lay up gold within this house, but no man made it. Spears past counting guard this house, but no man wards it. What is it?
#143
What has four fingers and a thumb, but isn’t alive?
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