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.
Riddle: What do you have to break before you can use it? Answer: An egg
Riddle: What is full of holes but still holds water? Answer: A sponge
Riddle: What is always in front of you but can't be seen? Answer: The future
Riddle: What starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it? Answer: A teapot
Riddle: Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday? Answer: The dictionary
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
Riddle: What do the letter "t" and an island have in common? Answer: They are both found in the middle of water
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
Riddle: Sam's dad has 3 daughters. Two are named Stephanie and Amanda. What's the name of the third daughter? Answer: Sam
Riddle: What has four fingers and a thumb but isn't alive? Answer: A thumb
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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Riddle: When is a door no longer a door? Answer: When it's left ajar
Riddle: I have four wheels and flies. What am I? Answer: A garbage truck
Riddle: What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less? Answer: A hole
Riddle: You can you hold me in your right hand, but never in your left hand. What am I? Answer: Your left hand
Riddle: What can you catch, but not throw? Answer: A cold
Riddle: What type of cheese is made backward? Answer: Edam
Riddle: What type of building contains the most stories? Answer: A library
Riddle: People knead me to buy things. What am I? Answer: Dough
Riddle: How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty? Answer: Just one—after that, your stomach is no longer empty
Riddle: How can kids drink beer and not get drunk? Answer: By sticking to root beer
Riddle: What gets wet while drying? Answer: A towel
Hard Riddles for Adults
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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"
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
Riddle: Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you will die. What is it? Answer: Nothing
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
Riddle: I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I? Answer: A bank
Riddle: What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it? Answer: Silence
Riddle: The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they? Answer: Footsteps
Riddle: How do you know that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are about to get married? Answer: They all have rings
Riddle: What goes all around the world but stays in a corner? Answer: A stamp
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
Riddle: What cuts across cities and fields, but never moves? Answer: A road
Riddles About Work
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Riddle: A man and his boss have the same parents, but they are not siblings. How is this possible? Answer: He's self-employed
Riddle: What does nobody want, yet nobody wants to lose? Answer: Work
Riddle: Why did the invisible man turn down a job offer? Answer: He just couldn't see himself doing it
Riddle: Why did the spider get a job in I.T.? Answer: Because he excels at web design
Riddle: Why is it so easy for elephants to get jobs? Answer: Because they'll work for peanuts
Riddle: What do you tell yourself when you wake up late for work and realize you have a fever?
Answer: Self, I-so-late
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
Riddle: What happened to the beans when they showed up late to work? Answer: They got canned
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
Riddle: People make me, save me, change me, raise me. What am I? Answer: Money
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
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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
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
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
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
Riddle: Which is heavier: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers? Answer: Neither; they both weigh a ton
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.
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
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
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
Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away just one letter and I become even. What number am I? Answer: Seven
Riddle: If two's company, and three's a crowd, what are four and five? Answer: Nine
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
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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
Riddle: What do you call two Italian ants in love? Answer: Rome-ants
Riddle: How come it's so easy to fall in love with a French chef? Answer: They know how to butter you up
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
Riddle: Why did the banker break up with his girlfriend? Answer: He was losing interest
Riddle: What did the paper clip say to the magnet? Answer: I find you very attractive
Riddle: What do snakes give each other when they say goodbye? Answer: A tiny hiss on the cheek
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"
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
Riddle: I am a nine-lettered word and rhyme with perfection. People use me as another name for love. What am I? Answer: Affection
Riddle: What can fill a room but takes up no space? Answer: Love
Word Riddles for Adults
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Riddle: Lovely and round, I'm shimmery white, grown in the darkness, a lady's delight. What am I? Answer: A pearl
Riddle: I have a head and a tail but no body. What am I? Answer: A coin
Riddle: I have words, but I never speak. What am I? Answer: A book
Riddle: I have legs, but I do not walk? What am I? Answer: A chair
Riddle: I am harder to catch the faster you run. What am I? Answer: Your breath
Riddle: I taste better than I smell. What am I? Answer: A tongue
Riddle: I have many keys, but I can't open a single lock. What am I? Answer: A piano
Riddle: What word is five letters long and actually becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Answer: "Short"
Riddle: I have a neck but no head. What am I? Answer: A guitar
Riddle: What word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly? Answer: Incorrectly
Riddle: I begin with an "E" and contain just one letter. What am I? Answer: An envelope
Riddle: What five-letter word is pronounced the same even if you take away four of its letters? Answer: "Queue"
