133 Thought-Provoking Riddles for Adults in 2025
Everyone should have an arsenal of riddles for adults to break out at a given moment. Maybe you need an icebreaker when introducing yourself or simply want to make a friend laugh.
No matter the reason, it’s always a good idea to test yourself and others with some clever riddles. Riddles can help improve problem-solving skills and boost mental agility by thinking creatively and critically, according to LinkedIn. So even if you’re having fun, you’re improving essential skills.
Memorize a few fun, silly and thought-provoking riddles for adults to share with friends, family and coworkers. Here’s one to help you get started: What gets sharper the more you use it? — Your brain. We’ve rounded up 133 riddles for adults that will get you thinking creatively and critically.
Jump to Section
- Best Riddles for Adults With Answers
- Tricky Riddles for Adults With Answers
- Clever Riddles for Adults
- Hard Riddles for Adults
- Dirty Riddles for Adults
Best Riddles for Adults With Answers
Clever, thought-provoking and sometimes funny, these are the best riddles for adults and their answers. You can use these as an icebreaker or test someone’s critical thinking skills. Some of these riddles for adults are even great to test kids’ creative thinking.
1. It has keys, but no locks; space, but no rooms. You can enter, but can’t go inside. What is it?
— A keyboard.
2. I am pronounced as one letter, and written with three. I’m double, I’m single, I’m brown, blue and gray. I’m read from both ends and the same either way. What am I?
— Eye.
3. Two fathers and two sons are in a car, but there are only three people inside. How?
— They are grandfather, father and son.
4. Forward, I am heavy; backward, I am not. What am I?
— Ton.
5. Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house but one in shelter. What am I?
— The letter “R.”
6. Forward, I’m what you do every day; backwards, I’m something you hate. What am I?
— Live.
7. Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me when I have flown. What am I?
— Time.
8. Where does today come before yesterday?
— The dictionary.
9. What gets shorter as it gets older?
— A candle.
10. What five-letter word typed in all caps can be read the same upside down?
— SWIMS
11. A rooster lays an egg on top of the barn roof. Which way does it roll: left or right?
— Neither, a rooster doesn’t lay eggs.
12. What begins with an “E” and only contains one letter?
— An envelope.
13. Poor people have me and rich people need me. But if you eat me, you’ll die. What am I?
— Nothing.
14. What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
— Short.
15. What goes up but never comes down?
— Your age.
16. If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
— Nine.
17. The more you take, the more you leave behind.
— What am I?
18. What has many keys but can’t open any locks?
— A piano.
19. A plane crashed between the border of France and Belgium. Where are the survivors buried?
— Nowhere because survivors don’t need to be buried.
20. Where is 61> 100?
— A microwave. 61 seconds is greater than 1:00.
21. Take me out of a window, and I leave a grieving wife. But put me in a door, and I can save somebody’s wife. What am I?
— The letter “N.”
22. Where can you finish a book without finishing a sentence?
— A prison.
23. What gets wetter the more it dries?
— A towel.
24. What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don’t?
— An anchor.
25. There are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and one in the middle. How many ducks are there?
— Three ducks.
26. What occurs once in a second, twice in a week and once in a year?
— The letter “E.”
27. What’s so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
— Silence.
Tricky Riddles for Adults With Answers
If you want a little bit of a challenge, consider these riddles for adults. Use these riddles for adults and trivia questions and answers during a game night to stump other competitors and win the grand prize.
28. I sometimes run, but I can’t walk. What am I?
— A nose.
29. When it is alive, we sing, when it is dead, we clap our hands. What is it?
— A birthday candle.
30. What can go through glass without breaking it?
— Light.
31. What gets bigger the more you take away?
— A hole.
32. When I change, I get bigger but weigh less. What am I?
— Popcorn.
33. What can you catch but never throw?
— A cold.
34. What do you buy to eat but never consume?
— Cutlery.
35. A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street, passing cops, but they don’t stop him. Why?
— He was walking.
36. I have no life, but I can die. What am I?
— A battery.
37. What has many teeth but cannot bite?
— A comb.
38. What has branches, but no truck, leaves or fruit?
— A bank.
39. In a room, there is a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle and a fireplace. What would you light first?
— The match.
40. A woman has four daughters, each daughter has a brother. How many children does the woman have?
— Five, the daughters share one brother.
41. What kind of room has no walls, doors or windows?
— A mushroom.
42. I have cities but no houses. Mountains but no trees. Water but no fish. What am I?
— A map.
43. What can fill a room but takes up no space?
— Light.
44. It belongs to you, but others use it more. What is it?
— Your name.
45. What has a neck but has no head?
— A guitar.
46. What has many hearts but no other organs?
— A deck of cards.
47. What do you lose the moment you share it?
— A secret.
48. What grows when you feed it but dies when you water it?
— A fire.
49. What is full of holes but still holds water?
— A sponge.
50. What two things can you never eat for breakfast?
— Lunch and dinner.
51. What’s always on the ground but is never dirty?
— A shadow.
52. What do you bury when it’s alive and dig up when it’s dead?
— A plant.
53. How many bricks does it take to complete a building made of bricks?
— One, the last one.
Clever Riddles for Adults
Show how clever your thinking is with these riddles for adults. You can test yourself and others. These clever riddles for adults are great along with a few random questions to ask to get to know how someone thinks.
54. What do the numbers 11, 69 and 88 all have in common
— They all read the same way upside down.
55. Every night I’m told what to do and do what I’m told every morning. I still get scolded. What am I?
— An alarm clock
56. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
— Concrete floors are hard to crack.
57. What do you call a bear with no teeth?
— A gummy bear.
58. Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
— Incorrectly.
59. What can you break without touching it?
— A promise.
60. If two snakes marry, what will their towels say?
— Hiss and hers.
61. What has hands but cannot clap?
— A clock.
62. What starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
— A teapot.
63. What loses its head in the morning but gets it back at night?
— A pillow.
64. What is at the end of a rainbow?
— The letter W.
65. What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
— A palm!
66. What is always in front of you, but can’t be seen?
— The future.
67. I’m orange, I wear a green hat and I sound like a parrot. What am I?
— A carrot.
68. What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less?
— A hole.
69. I have one eye but am unable to see. What is it?
— A needle.
70. You can find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. But never in Neptune or Venus. What am I?
— The letter “R”.
71. A man and his boss have the same parents but are not siblings. How?
— He’s self-employed.
72. When is a door no longer a door?
— When it’s ajar.
73. How many months have 28 days?
— Every month has 28 days.
74. What is the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?
— A jeweler sells watches and a jailer watches cells.
75. What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?
— Queue.
76. I can’t talk, but I always reply when spoken to. What am I?
— An echo.
77. What building has the most stories?
— The library.
78. What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?
— A road.
79. What type of cheese is made backward?
— Edam.
80. What is taken before you can get it?
— A photo.
Hard Riddles for Adults
Give yourself a challenge with Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader questions. And when you’re done with that, challenge yourself with these hard riddles for adults. They’re a little more difficult, but these riddles for adults can be fun for a brain teaser puzzle.
81. When you take off my skin, I won’t cry, but you will. What am I?
— An onion.
82. If an electric train is traveling south, then which way is the smoke going?
— There is no smoke because it’s an electric train.
83. (Best when said aloud) One knight, a ninja and a pirate are on a boat. The boat crashes. The pirate jumps off first, the ninja jumps off second, who jumps off third?”
— The knight, but it sounds like ‘night’.
84. I can only live where there is light, but I die if the light shines on me. What am I?
— A shadow.
85. What flies when it’s born, lies when it’s alive and runs when it’s dead?
— A snowflake.
86. I am a mother and a father, but have never given birth. I’m rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?
— A tree.
87. I’m always there, a distance away. You may move toward me, yet I stay at a distance. What am I?
— The horizon.
88. Every day, a man crosses the border between two countries on a bicycle with a backpack full of sand. Guards search him, but never find anything illegal. Later, he admits to smuggling something. What was it?
— Bicycles.
89. A father’s age is exactly four times his son’s age. In 20 years, the father’s age will be exactly twice the son’s age. How old are they now?
— The father is 40 and the son is 10.
90. What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
— The letter “R.”
91. You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then, you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?
— Corn.
92. Two men are in a desert. They both have packs on. One of the men is dead, the other is alive. One pack is open and the other is closed. What is in the pack?
— A parachute.
93. How can the number four be half of five?
— By using Roman numerals, four (IV) uses two letters from the word ‘five’.
94. If yesterday were tomorrow, today would be Friday. What day is it?
— Thursday.
95. I come in different shapes and sizes. Some parts of me are curved and others are straight. You can put me anywhere, but there is only one right place. What am I?
— A puzzle piece.
96. What runs all around a backyard but never moves?
— A fence.
97. Which tire doesn’t move when a car turns right?
— A spare tire.
98. How far can you walk into a forest?
— Halfway, then you’re walking out.
99. What has one head, one foot and four legs?
— A bed.
100. What tastes better than it smells?
— A tongue.
101. A sundial has no moving parts, the fewest of any timepiece. Which has the most?
— An hourglass.
102. What four-letter word can be written forward, backward and upside down and still be read from left to right?
— NOON.
103. How can a man shave every day, multiple times a day, but still have a long beard?
— He’s a barber.
104. A clerk at a butcher shop is 5’10” tall and wears a size 13 shoe. What does he weigh?
— Meat, because he’s a butcher.
105. A train has infinite cars and moves at the speed of light. How does it ever leave the station?
— It doesn’t, because it’s infinite.
106. How many times can you subtract 10 from 25?
— Once, then it becomes 15.
107. What is made of water, but dies in water?
— An ice cube.
Dirty Riddles for Adults
A little dirty humor is always fun between adults and these dirty riddles for adults are no exception. These are fun to exchange, along with a few jokes for adults, at a party with friends. These dirty riddles for adults are a little punny and will make you think of the second-best answer.
108. What has a bottom at the top?
— Your legs.
109. What’s a thing that you can find in a man’s pants but not in a woman’s?
— Pockets.
110. A cow has four of them but a woman has two. What is it?
— Legs.
111. I have a stiff shaft and my tip penetrates. I come with a quiver. What am I?
— An arrow.
112. Some people prefer being on top, others on the bottom. It always involves a bed. What is it?
— A bunk bed.
113. What’s six inches long, goes in your mouth and vibrates?
— An electric toothbrush.
114. Doesn’t matter what room we’re in, you can always spread me. What am I?
— Butter.
115. I prevent any mistakes and I’m made out of rubber. What am I?
— Eraser.
116. What can’t be tasted unless it is undressed?
— A banana.
117. I work with briefs and I’m amazing when using my mouth. What am I?
— A lawyer.
118. What goes up, lets out a load then goes back down?
— An elevator.
119. I am always hard when dry but smooth and soft when wet. What am I?
— A sponge.
120. What is hard, comes in different sizes and can go into tiny holes?
— A key.
121. What does a man have in his trousers that a lady doesn’t want on her face?
— Wrinkles.
123. What is the thing you set on vibration when you want some time alone?
— A phone.
124. I am dirty, people like to put their wood in me but only Santa goes down on me. What am I?
— A fireplace.
125. What’s white, sticky and better to spit than swallow?
— Toothpaste.
126. I come from nuts, can be very sticky and taste amazing. What am I?
— Peanut butter.
127. It’s hard when it goes in but comes out wet, soft and sometimes soggy.
— Pasta.
128. What’s beautiful and natural but gets long and prickly if it isn’t trimmed regularly?
— Grass.
129. You stick poles inside me, tie me down to get me up and I get wet before you do. What am I?
— A tent.
130. What begins with “P,” responds to stimulation by getting bigger and generally is the biggest at night in the dark?
— Pupils of eyes.
131. What starts with “D” and ends with “ick”?
— Drumstick.
132. I grow in a bed, first white then red and the plumper I get, the better women like me. What am I?
— A strawberry.
133. What’s soft and instantly melts in your mouth, but feels sticky when it drips on your hand?
— Ice cream.
It always feels good to solve riddles for adults and even better when you stump someone with one. That’s why it’s always a good idea to have a couple on hand. Riddles for adults can help you think more critically or they can be a funny way to connect over a clever joke. No matter what, you can get inspired by these 133 riddles for adults.
For even more ways to challenge yourself, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!
