100 Hard Riddles (With Answers)
Ready for a real mental workout? Challenge yourself with these hard riddles designed to test even the sharpest minds. These riddles are crafted to push your problem-solving skills to the limit and make you think in new ways. Perfect for those who love a serious challenge, each riddle comes with a 'Show' and 'Hide' answer option so you can try solving them first before revealing the answer. Get ready for some brain-teasing fun!
1. What gets wetter as it dries?
A towel
2. I have hands but cannot hold, a mouth but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. What am I?
A doll
3. People buy me to eat, but they never actually eat me. What am I?
A plate
4. When you need me, you throw me out. When you don’t, you keep me in one place. What am I?
An anchor
5. I’ve been around for millions of years, but I’m never more than a month old. What am I?
The Moon
6. The further you go, the more you leave me behind. What am I?
Footsteps
7. Whoever makes it, keeps silent. Whoever takes it, doesn’t know. Whoever knows it, doesn’t want it. What is it?
Poison
8. It’s smaller than the rest, but when you’re happy, you lift it up like it’s the best. What is it?
A thumb
9. You can see me, but you can’t hold me. I’m always with you, yet I never speak. I grow in sunlight and hide in the dark. What am I?
A shadow
10. I never ask questions, yet you answer me. What am I?
A telephone
11. What’s something easy to get into but hard to get out of?
Trouble
12. What can you hold without ever touching it?
Your breath
13. I go up and down at the same time, up to the sky and down to the ground. What am I?
A seesaw
14. How can a dog cross a river without getting wet?
By using a bridge
15. What can be measured but has no length, width, or height?
Temperature
16. What’s lighter than what it’s made of?
Ice
17. I can be thrown from the tallest building and survive, but I won’t survive if I’m thrown from a small boat. What am I?
A piece of paper
18. What is something that, once shared, no longer belongs to you?
A secret
19. What part of a bird stays far from the flying bird, floats on water, but never gets wet?
Its shadow
20. What is taken before it is seen?
A photo
21. How many bricks are needed to complete a brick building?
Just one—the last one
22. I shave several times a day but still have a beard. Who am I?
A barber
23. Cows do this to salt blocks, and people do it to ice cream. What is it?
Lick
24. A young man wants it but regrets it after he has it. He uses a blade daily but it keeps coming back. What is it?
A beard
25. What has holes on each side, yet can still hold water?
A sponge
26. I’m an animal that also farms wool. What am I?
A sheep
27. In this profession, you go places at others’ requests. What is it?
A taxi driver
28. Doing something of this nature might land you in court. What is it?
Something illegal
29. I can sing but cannot talk. I can climb a tree but can’t run. I have soft feathers and a hard beak. What am I?
A bird
30. What do people do with gifts to make them festive?
Wrap them
31. My teeth help me suck blood. What am I?
A vampire
32. If you really want to see inside someone, use me. What am I?
An X-ray
33. I am the only organ that named myself. What am I?
The brain
34. I contain words about words, including some you’ve never heard. What am I?
A dictionary
35. Once they sailed the seas, now they surf the web. Who are they?
Pirates
36. You are owed one of these when someone wrongs you.
An apology
37. I have roads but no pavement, rivers but no water, and cities but no buildings. What am I?
A map
38. What might hold a locket?
A necklace
39. What do you do to find out the length of something?
Measure
40. A priceless gift with no beginning, no end, and nothing in the middle. What is it?
A ring
41. What word is often said before taking a sip?
Cheers
42. I am a shower that lights up the sky. What am I?
A meteor
43. I can create dreams or open the skies. Just close your eyes to use me. What am I?
Imagination
44. The world was dark before I came, but be careful—I can also kill. What am I?
Electricity
45. It’s not a comb or a brush, but it softens hair. What is it?
Shampoo
46. You can draw me, fire me, or fill me in. What am I?
A gun
47. I am a place where you can enjoy all seasons. What am I?
A bathroom
48. I am a person who pretends to be someone else. What am I?
An imposter
49. Where do kings, queens, knights, and soldiers battle together?
In a game of chess
50. I’m the sugary treat on a stick that kids love to eat. What am I?
A lollipop
51. I am short and have a beard. People often hear of me in stories, but I exist in the real world too. What am I?
A dwarf
52. I have a neck but no head, two arms but no hands. I mostly stay with you. What am I?
A shirt
53. It’s a form of plastic money. What is it?
A credit card
54. I do not speak, but there’s no word I cannot make. What am I?
The alphabet
55. What seems to go down when viewed from above but goes up when viewed from below?
Stairs
56. When you don’t know what I am, I am many things. When you know, I am nothing. What am I?
A riddle
57. How can a pants pocket be empty yet still have something in it?
A hole
58. What goes up but never comes down?
Age
59. What’s the first thing a gardener puts in a garden?
A foot
60. What do you get when you cross a vampire and a teacher?
A blood test
61. You can hold it without using your hands. What is it?
Your breath
62. What do the poor have that the rich don’t?
Nothing, because the rich have everything
63. What is something you can hold in your left hand but not your right?
Your right elbow
64. You can only receive it if you give it to others. What is it?
Respect
65. What is put on a table, cut, but never eaten?
A deck of cards
66. Break it, and it will become stable, harden, and be even harder to break again. What is it?
A record
67. What jumps when it walks and sits when it stands?
A kangaroo
68. When young, he had a tail; as he grew, his tail was replaced by legs. What is he?
A frog
69. What starts as a hobby for some, but soon becomes a compulsion?
Alcohol
70. What is found in water but never gets wet?
A reflection
71. You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when thin and slow when fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I?
A candle
72. I come from a mine and am always surrounded by wood. Everyone uses me. What am I?
Pencil lead
73. What has roots nobody sees, is taller than trees, and yet never grows?
A mountain
74. I have many holes, but I’m strong like steel. What am I?
A chain
75. You are my brother, but I am not your brother. Who am I?
I am your sister
76. I fly in the sky but am not a bird. What am I?
A cloud
77. What gets smaller the more you pull it?
A cigarette
78. I go to the sky but never come back down. Who am I?
Smoke
79. I am silent during the day, but I speak at night. What am I?
Crickets
80. What doesn’t sleep itself but makes others sleep?
A lullaby
81. What can neither be held with hands nor touched with feet?
Air
82. What has no weight but no one can hold it?
A shadow
83. What door neither opens nor closes?
The door of thoughts
84. What house has no doors and no windows?
A nest
85. Which animal sleeps the most?
A sloth
86. I don’t come during the meal, but I come after it. What am I?
A burp
87. What is something everyone receives but no one can see?
Time
88. Which fruit can never be bought?
The fruit of hard work
89. What does everyone have but no one can show?
A soul
90. What can fly in the sky without wings?
A kite
91. What has so many holes yet still sings beautifully?
A flute
92. What is the path that never ends?
The path of knowledge
93. What place can hold many people, yet no one lives there?
The heart
94. Which house always has water?
An aquarium
95. What doesn’t move but is walked on?
A road
96. I am so simple that I can only point, yet I guide people worldwide. What am I?
A compass
97. I can fill a room but take up no space. What am I?
Light
98. I am not alive but I grow; I don’t have lungs but I need air. What am I?
A fire
99. What has many teeth but can’t bite?
A zipper
100. What is made of water but disappears when placed in water?
An ice cube
