79 Riddles for Adults: Funny, Challenging, and Weird!

Enjoy everything from classic brain teasers to riddles about love and life.

While we're no longer in school, it's good to entertain the occasional brain teaser to stay sharp. Studies even suggest that these puzzles can speed up cognitive processing and improve short-term memory. If nothing else, they provide a welcome escape from our daily chores and routines. Below, we've collected 79 riddles for adults to help stump your friends, impress your coworkers, and start flexing those cognitive muscles!

79 of The Best Brain Teasers and Funniest Riddles for Adults

From riddles about love to more challenging teasers, these questions are sure to keep you on your toes.

RELATED: 85 Riddles for Kids (With Answers!).

Easy Riddles for Adults

portrait of man looking smug
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  1. Riddle: What do you have to break before you can use it?
    Answer:
    An egg
  2. Riddle: What is full of holes but still holds water?
    Answer:
    A sponge
  3. Riddle: What is always in front of you but can't be seen?
    Answer:
    The future
  4. Riddle: What starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
    Answer: A teapot
  5. Riddle: Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday?
    Answer: The dictionary
  6. Riddle: Alexa has four daughters, and each one has a brother. How many children does she have in total?
    Answer: Five children—all four daughters have the same brother
  7. Riddle: What do the letter "t" and an island have in common?
    Answer: They are both found in the middle of water
  8. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: An apple
  9. Riddle: Sam's dad has 3 daughters. Two are named Stephanie and Amanda. What's the name of the third daughter?
    Answer: Sam
  10. Riddle: What has four fingers and a thumb but isn't alive?
    Answer: A thumb
  11. Riddle: Two fathers and two sons are in a car, but there are only three people in the vehicle. How?
    Answer: The group consists of a grandfather, s father, and his son.

Funny Riddles

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  1. Riddle: When is a door no longer a door?
    Answer: When it's left ajar
  2. Riddle: I have four wheels and flies. What am I?
    Answer: A garbage truck
  3. Riddle: What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less?
    Answer: A hole
  4. Riddle: You can you hold me in your right hand, but never in your left hand. What am I?
    Answer: Your left hand
  5. Riddle: What can you catch, but not throw?
    Answer: A cold
  6. Riddle: What type of cheese is made backward?
    Answer: Edam
  7. Riddle: What type of building contains the most stories?
    Answer: A library
  8. Riddle: People knead me to buy things. What am I?
    Answer: Dough
  9. Riddle: How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
    Answer: Just one—after that, your stomach is no longer empty
  10. Riddle: How can kids drink beer and not get drunk?
    Answer:
    By sticking to root beer
  11. Riddle: What gets wet while drying?
    Answer: A towel

Hard Riddles for Adults

woman looking confused
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  1. Riddle: There are two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What is it?
    Answer: The letter "r"
  2. Riddle: A plane crashed on the border of Spain and Portugal. Where were the survivors buried?
    Answer: They weren't—you're not supposed to bury survivors
  3. Riddle: Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you will die. What is it?
    Answer: Nothing
  4. Riddle: You walk into a room that contains a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. What should you light first?
    Answer: The match
  5. Riddle: I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I?
    Answer: A bank
  6. Riddle: What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
    Answer: Silence
  7. Riddle: The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
    Answer: Footsteps
  8. Riddle: How do you know that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are about to get married?
    Answer: They all have rings
  9. Riddle: What goes all around the world but stays in a corner?
    Answer: A stamp
  10. Riddle: A man rode into town on Tuesday and left a few days later on Tuesday. How is that possible?
    Answer: Tuesday was his horse's name
  11. Riddle: What cuts across cities and fields, but never moves?
    Answer: A road

Riddles About Work

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  1. Riddle: A man and his boss have the same parents, but they are not siblings. How is this possible?
    Answer: He's self-employed
  2. Riddle: What does nobody want, yet nobody wants to lose?
    Answer: Work
  3. Riddle: Why did the invisible man turn down a job offer?
    Answer: He just couldn't see himself doing it
  4. Riddle: Why did the spider get a job in I.T.?
    Answer: Because he excels at web design
  5. Riddle: Why is it so easy for elephants to get jobs?
    Answer: Because they'll work for peanuts
  6. Riddle: What do you tell yourself when you wake up late for work and realize you have a fever?
    Answer:
    Self, I-so-late
  7. Riddle: A man was just doing his job when his suit was torn. He died a few minutes later. Why?
    Answer: He was an astronaut
  8. Riddle: What happened to the beans when they showed up late to work?
    Answer: They got canned
  9. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: A night watchman isn't supposed to sleep on the job
  10.  Riddle: People make me, save me, change me, raise me. What am I?
    Answer: Money
  11. Riddle: What is the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?
    Answer:  A jeweler sells watches while a jailer watches cells

Math Riddles for Adults

jumbled numbers
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  1. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: 23 years old
  2. Riddle: The day before yesterday I was 21, and next year I will be 24. When is my birthday?
    Answer: December 31; today is January 1
  3. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: 20 hours
  4. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: Just one! After that, it doesn't count as an empty basket
  5. Riddle: Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?
    Answer: Neither; they both weigh a ton
  6. Riddle: What is the smallest number that increases by 12 when it is flipped and turned upside-down?
    Answer: 86. When turned upside-down and flipped, it becomes 98.
  7. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: 194
  8. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: 12
  9. Riddle: Turn me on my side, and I am everything. Cut me in half and I am nothing. What am I?
    Answer: The number eight
  10. Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away just one letter and I become even. What number am I?
    Answer: Seven
  11. Riddle: If two's company, and three's a crowd, what are four and five?
    Answer: Nine
  12. Riddle: A hen and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half. How many eggs does one hen lay in one day?
    Answer: 2/3 an egg

Fun Riddles About Love

couple discussing riddles about love
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  1. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: A heart
  2. Riddle: What do you call two Italian ants in love?
    Answer: Rome-ants
  3. Riddle: How come it's so easy to fall in love with a French chef?
    Answer: They know how to butter you up
  4. Riddle: You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn't a single person on board. How is that possible?
    Answer: Everyone is married
  5. Riddle: Why did the banker break up with his girlfriend?
    Answer: He was losing interest
  6. Riddle: What did the paper clip say to the magnet?
    Answer: I find you very attractive
  7. Riddle: What do snakes give each other when they say goodbye?
    Answer: A tiny hiss on the cheek
  8. Riddle: I am present at the beginning of love; the start of life and I am the end of evil. What am I?
    Answer: The letter "L"
  9. Riddle: 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?
    Answer: A rose
  10. Riddle: I am a nine-lettered word and rhyme with perfection. People use me as another name for love. What am I?
    Answer: Affection
  11. Riddle: What can fill a room but takes up no space?
    Answer: Love

Word Riddles for Adults

jumbled letters
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  1. Riddle: Lovely and round, I'm shimmery white, grown in the darkness, a lady's delight. What am I?
    Answer: A pearl
  2. Riddle: I have a head and a tail but no body. What am I?
    Answer: A coin
  3. Riddle: I have words, but I never speak. What am I?
    Answer: A book
  4. Riddle: I have legs, but I do not walk? What am I?
    Answer: A chair
  5. Riddle: I am harder to catch the faster you run. What am I?
    Answer: Your breath
  6. Riddle: I taste better than I smell. What am I?
    Answer: A tongue
  7. Riddle: I have many keys, but I can't open a single lock. What am I?
    Answer: A piano
  8. Riddle: What word is five letters long and actually becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
    Answer: "Short"
  9. Riddle: I have a neck but no head. What am I?
    Answer: A guitar
  10. Riddle: What word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
    Answer: Incorrectly
  11. Riddle: I begin with an "E" and contain just one letter. What am I?
    Answer: An envelope
  12. Riddle: What five-letter word is pronounced the same even if you take away four of its letters?
    Answer: "Queue"
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