136 Best Riddles for Adults

Being an adult is not always easy, especially when you must figure out how to solve problems that you have never come across before. But nothing is as satisfying as successfully solving the issue. One frustrating problem you may come across is riddles.

Friends and family try to catch you out or you might read one in a newspaper that baffles you. Every riddler thinks they have the ultimate question to trick you and make you look silly; little do they know you have read this article and know the answers to some of the best riddles around!

This article contains 136 of the best riddles around, for adults (we have provided the answers too). Once you have worked them out test your friends, families, work colleagues, or even people in the supermarket queue. Bookmark the page so they are easy to find!

In this article – Best Riddles for Adults | Funny | Good | Tricky / Clever | Logic | Riddles for Work

30 Best Riddles For Adults

What do other people use more even though it belongs to you? 

Your name.

What doesn’t smell but tastes great?

A tongue.

Without a head, I am higher. What am I? 

A pillow

I am not the Queen although my name suggests otherwise.

A ruler

I travel around the world in a corner. What am I?

A stamp

The strongest people cannot hold me for more than 5 minutes even though I am the lightest thing. What am I?

Your breath

I do not have a body but I speak without a mouth and listen without any ears. What am I? 

An Echo

My life is measured in hours. When I am thin I am quick and slow when I am fat. What am I?

A candle

I am a five-letter word but when you add two letters I become shorter. What word am I?

Short

I am a wet coat every time you put me on. What am I?

Paint

What starts with gas and is made from 10 letters?

An Automobile

Felix’s father had 3 sons: Snap, Crackle, and…?

Felix

What has keys but cannot unlock a thing?

A Piano

What goes in hard, is soft when it comes out, and you have to blow continuously?

Bubblegum

You can’t touch me but you can easily break me. If you want to be mine you need to win me. What am I?

A Heart

What joins two people but touches only one?

A wedding ring

What can be stolen, mistaken, or changed, but never leaves you?

Your identity

First I am dry, then I am wet; the longer I swim, the stronger I am. What am I?

Tea

If you scratch my head I turn black but once I was red. What am I?

A match

He has married many women but has never been married himself. Who is he?

A priest

The boat was full of people even though there was not a single person on board. How is that possible?

All the people on the boat are in a relationship.

What has legs but cannot walk, run or jump?

A table

What has teeth but cannot eat?

A Comb

What ship has two mates but doesn’t sail the seas?

A relationship

What does a dog do that a man wears?

Pants

How can you physically stand behind someone when they are standing behind you?

Stand back-to-back

I never take up any space but I can fill it. What am I?

Light

I am lighter than what I am made from, you only ever see a small part of me. What am I?

An iceberg

What cannot sew but has hundreds of needles?

A Christmas Tree

Which month is 28 days long?

All of them.

30 Funny Riddles For Adults

What goes up but never comes down (no matter how much you want it to)?

Your age.

What do you call two ants from Italy?

Romance

What did the fridge say to the magnet?

I find you very attractive

Why did the banker split up with his partner?

He was losing interest.

Why didn’t the triangle like the circle? 

It was pointless

What’s the time when an elephant sits on your car?

Time to buy a new one.

What can you hold in your right hand but you will never be able to hold in your left hand?

Your left hand

A band that never plays music.

A rubber band

What two things can you never eat at night?

Breakfast and Lunch.

What room has no windows or doors?

A mushroom

What do Alexander the Great and Oscar the Grouch have in common?

The same middle name

What finishes everything?

G

What has a bottom at the top?

Legs

What is white and smells like blue paint?

White paint

What building has the most stories?

A library

What tree can you carry in your hand, with ease?

A palm.

What is the best dandruff solution?

Baldness

What did the two volcanos say on valentine’s day?

Do you lava me as I lava you?

I start with a “p” and end with “o-r-n” and huge in the entertainment industry. What am I?

Popcorn

What is a geologist’s favourite pastime?

To go to rock concerts

When would you bury a torch?

When the batteries die.

What type of cheese is made backward?

Edam

Where in the alphabet would you find water?

C

If there were only white cars what would we have? 

A white carnation

What runs a garden without moving?

A fence

When is a door not a door?

When it is ajar.

To buy things you have to knead me. What am I?

Dough

How can you tell that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are married?

They have rings

Why can’t you take a photo of a person with a wooden leg? 

Because a wooden leg is not a camera

I have four legs like a dog, and two eyes like a dog, I look just like a dog but I am not a dog. What am I?

A photo of a dog

30 Good Riddles For Adults

You have to break me before you can use me. What am I?

Egg

You answer me but I never ask you questions or reply. What am I?

 A telephone.

What never speaks but has many words?

A book.

Which is heavier: a ton of concrete or a ton of feathers?

They are both the same weight.

What has a head and a tail but no other body parts?

A coin

What can be swallowed but could also swallow you?

Pride

What do you throw out when you need it but bring it back when you don’t need it?

An anchor

What has no hands or legs but might knock on your door?

Opportunity

What doesn’t roll but can rock?

A rocking chair

What starts with a P and ends with an E but has the most amounts of letters?

The Post Office

I can be hot or cold when I run. What am I? 

Water

What is the main difference between a jailer and a jeweller?

Jeweller sells watches, but a jailer watches cells

What is hard to throw but easy to lift?

A feather

I am not known until I am checked. You miss me when I am gone, even though I am always there. What am I?

Time

What goes through cities, towns, and villages but never moves?

A road

What gets wetter the more it dries?

A towel

I am a word that you pronounce the same way whether I am one letter or 5. 

Queue

I am an odd number, but if you remove one letter I will be even. 

Seven

I cannot see even though I have one eye. What am I?

A needle

I have keys, but no locks. I have space, but no room. You may enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?

A keyboard

A word that is always spelled incorrectly.

Incorrectly

A tasty verb that uses the same letters in the present and past tense?

Eat and Ate

When is yesterday’s tomorrow and tomorrow’s yesterday?

Today

What is the funniest food?

A cracker

I am a ball that can be rolled but I cannot bounce or be thrown. What am I?

Eyeball

You must give it before you keep it.

Your word

One dollar and the moon have this in common.

Four Quarters

I always come but never arrive today. What am I?

Tomorrow

What has 88 teeth but never brushes them?

A piano

I hold memories but cannot think. What am I?

A photo frame

20 Tricky And Clever Riddles For Adults

I have branches but no leaves, no trunk, and no fruit. What am I?

A Bank

I can run but never walk. Murmur, but never talk. I have a bed but never sleep. I have a mouth, but I have never eaten. 

A river

What was the first tallest mountain in the world?

Mount Everest, even though it hadn’t been discovered.

What is in the middle of March and April but not July or June?

The letter R

I am surrounded by wood. Everyone uses me. What am I?

Pencil Lead

Remover of regrets, old and new, looked for by many but found by a few. What am I?

Redemption

Spelled forwards I’m what you do every day, spelled backward I’m something that scares. What am I?

Live

What contains 12 hearts but no other organs

A deck of cards

A word that contains all 26 letters?

The alphabet

A plane crashed on the border of Ukraine and Russia. Where were the survivors buried?

Survivors do not need to be buried.

What do rich people need that poor people have an abundance of?

Nothing

I have cities, but no houses. I have forests but no trees. I have water but no fish.

A map

You walk into a room that contains a match, a candle, a cigarette, and a fireplace. What would you light first?

The Match

What is so fragile any noise will break it?

Silence

What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a year?

M

It can be broken even if you don’t touch it.

A promise

I can be made, saved, changed, and raised. What am I?

Money

What breaks yet never falls?

Day

A is the brother of B.

B is the brother of C.

C is the father of D.

How is D related to A?

A is D’s aunt.

What is different about seven from the rest of the numbers between one and ten?

Seven has two syllables and the others only have one.

10 Logic Riddles For Adults

How many chocolates can you eat if your stomach is empty?

Just one as it’s not empty after you have eaten.

An electric train is going west. Where does the smoke go?

Electric trains do not produce smoke.

What can you catch but can never be thrown?

A cold

The more there is the less you see. What is it?

Darkness

If eleven plus two equals one, what does nine plus six equate to?

3. 11 o’clock plus 2 hours = 1 o’clock 9 o’clock plus 6 hours = 3 o’clock

If your uncle’s sister is not your aunt, how are you related to her?

She is your mother

What are the next 2 letters in this riddle? O T T F F S S E

N T. Each letter represents the first letter of each number one to eight. 

How many letters are in the English alphabet?

18: 3 in the, 7 in English, and 8 in the alphabet

I am in every corner but there is two of me in a room. 

The letter 0

I am not a celebration, but I am at the beginning of December. I am not in any other month. What am I?

The letter D

10 Work Riddles For Adults

A man and his manager have the same parents but are not related. How is this possible?

He’s self-employed

Why do elephants find it easy to get work?

Because they will work for peanuts

Nobody wants me, but nobody wants to lose me. What am I? 

Work

Why did the invisible man turn down the offer of work?

Because he couldn’t see himself working.

What happened when the beans did not complete their work?

They got canned

Why did the monkey get fired?

It was taking too long to get into the swing of things

Why did the spider get a job in computing?

He was a web designer

A man was just doing a job he tore his suit. Why did he die three minutes later?

He was an astronaut

If it’s information you need then come and see me. If it’s pairs of letters you need, I have three. 

A bookkeeper

What will work even after it has been fired?

A neuron

Now you have 130 riddles that you can challenge people with. Print them, bookmark them, and jot a couple down. You never know when you are going to need a riddle to get people thinking. 

More Riddles

55 Riddles for Teens // 136 Riddles for Adults // 55 Animal Riddles
75 Short Riddles // 40 Emoji Riddles // 172 Riddles for Kids
154 Trick Questions // 154 Funny Riddles // 73 Brain Teasers
82 Hard Riddles // 73 Dirty Riddles // 73 What Am I Riddles // 37 Egg Riddles