125 Hard Riddles Guaranteed to Stump You

Are you looking for hard riddles to bust out on a family game night to stump your family members? We’ve got all the best brainteasers that will make you scratch your head! These riddles are great for kids and adults, but we have included some specifically for kids so that they don’t feel left out! You’ll love getting to see those little wheels turning in your child’s head as they try and solve it.

We’ve found over 100 hard riddles to puzzle and entertain you and we certainly hope you will share them with the ones you love. Riddles engage our minds and problem-solving capabilities which means they are the equivalent to exercise for your brain. What is that the Batman villain The Riddler once said? “Riddle me this, riddle me that!” Let’s do it!

Hard Riddles – The Basics

• A man dies of old age on his 25 birthday. How is this possible? He was born on February 29.
• I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I? A bank.
• What can’t talk but will reply when spoken to? An echo.
• You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible? All the people on the boat are married.
• You walk into a room that contains a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. What would you light first? The match.

• The more of this there is, the less you see. What could it be? Darkness.
• What can you keep after giving it to someone? Your word.
• I shave every day, but my beard stays the same. Who am I? A barber.
• A man who was outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat didn’t get a single hair on his head wet. How? He’s bald.
• What gets wet while drying? A towel.

More Basic Hard Riddles

• What goes up but never comes back down? Your age.
• There’s a one-story house in which everything is yellow. Yellow walls, yellow doors, yellow furniture. What color are the stairs? There are none.
• What is always in front of you but can’t be seen? The future.
• What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it? A promise.
• What question can you never answer yes to? Are you asleep?

More Hard Riddles to Warm Up a Crowd

• What is full of holes but will still hold water? A sponge.
• What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it? A teapot.
• Which month of the year has 28 days? All of them.
• What must be broken before you can use it? An egg.
•  I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I? A candle.

Hard Riddles That Are Funny

• What tastes better than it smells? A tongue.
• What kind of room has no doors or windows? A mushroom.
• What is orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.
• During which month do people sleep the least? February. It’s the shortest month of the year.
• Two children are born on the same day from the same mother but they are not twins. How is that possible? They’re triplets.

More Hard Riddles to Make You Laugh

• Jack’s mother had three children. The first child was named April The second child was given the name May. What was the third child’s name? Jack, of course.
• How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet? None. It’s a hole.
• What grows when it’s eating but dies when it drinks? A fire.
• What part of the chicken has the most feathers? The outside.
• What goes up and down but never moves? Stairs.

More Funny Hard Riddles to Giggle About

• What has hands, but can’t clap? A clock.
• What can you give a bald man that he will never part with? A comb.
• What has one head, one foot, and four legs? A bed.
• What kind of vegetable needs a plumber? A leek.
• What is red and smells like blue paint? Red paint.

Chuckle at These Hard Riddles

• What has words, but never speaks? A book.
• When is a door no longer a door? When it’s ajar.
• What is so unbelievably fragile that just by speaking its name will break it? Silence.
• What building has the most stories? The library.
• I am weightless but put me in a bucket and I will make it lighter. What am I? A hole.

Hard Riddles About Words

• What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters? Queue.
• What word of five letters has one left when two are removed? Stone.
• What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat? Chicago.
• What 4-letter word can be written forward, backward or upside down, and can still be read from left to right? NOON.
• Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I? The word not.

More Hard Riddles About Words

• Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
• What 7 letter word is spelled the same way backward and forwards? Racecar.
• What word contains all of the twenty-six letters? Alphabet.
• What is the longest word in the dictionary? Smiles. There’s a mile between the two S’s.
• What English word has three consecutive double letters? Bookkeeper.

Even More Hard Riddles All About Words

• What word is right when pronounced wrong, but is wrong when pronounced right? Wrong.
• Which word that begins with the letter I, and by adding the letter A, becomes another word that is pronounced the same? Isle and Aisle.
• Which word in the English language becomes shorter when it is lengthened? Short.
• What contains five eyes but can’t see? The Mississippi River.
• What starts with “P” and ends with “E” and has more than 1000 letters? Post Office.

Hard Riddles with Numbers & Math

• If there are 4 apples and you take away 3, how many do you have? Three.
• I am a three-digit number. My second digit is 4 times bigger than the third digit. My first digit is 3 less than my second digit. Who am I? 141.
• A half is a third of it. What is it? 1 1/2.
• Which weighs more? 16 ounces of soda or a pound of solid gold? Neither. They both are the same weight.
• You are given 3 positive numbers. You can add these numbers and multiply them together. The result you get will be the same. Which are the numbers? 1, 2, and 3.

More Hard Riddles About Math

• If seven people meet each other and each shakes hands only once with each of the others, how many handshakes will there have been? 21.
• A man is twice as old as his little sister. He is also half as old as his dad. Over a period of 50 years, the age of his sister will become half of their dad’s age. What is the age of the man now? 50 years old.
• A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 die. How many are left? Nine.
• Two people in front of two people, two people behind two people, and two people beside two people. How many people are there? Four.
• Can you arrange four nines to make it equal to 100? 99+9/9=100

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Hard Riddles About Science

• I am a god, a planet and I can measure heat. What am I? Mercury.
• What two periodic elements, when combined, heal? HE + AL (helium + mercury).
• Which chemical element hates to be a follower? Lead.
• What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away? Charcoal.
• You can’t see me, but I can see you. Specifically, I see through you. What am I? An X-Ray.

More Hard Riddles About Science

• What eats a lot of iron without getting sick? Rust.
• I can burn your mouth and your eyes but I am eaten every day. What am I? Salt.
• What do dogs have that no other animal has? Puppies.
• Anyone can hold me, even without their hands, yet no one can do it for long. What am I? Your breath.
• I am under your face but outside of your mind. What am I? Your skull.

Even More Hard Riddles About Science

• I am a ball that can be rolled but never bounced or thrown. What am I? An eyeball.
• At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen. What are they? Stars.
• I am sometimes full but I never overflow. What am I? The moon.
• I am the child of the water, yet when I return to the water, I die. What am I? Ice.
• If you drop a 15 lb iron bar and a 5 lb bag of cotton from a height of 50 feet which will reach the ground first? Gravity is a constant for all objects on earth. They will land at the same time.

Hard Riddles About Animals

• What kind of music do rabbits like? Hip Hop
• Why do cats make the best soldiers? They have nine lives.
• What did the turkey say to the rooster when he challenged him to a fight? Are you chicken?
• I can fly, I can walk and I can swim but I don’t get wet. What am I? A bird’s shadow.
• Why did the chicken, the pheasant, turkey, duck, and goose get in trouble? Fowl language.

More Hard Riddles About Wildlife

• I never leave the water, but I breathe air. I live in a school all my life. What am I? A dolphin.
• What color chicks would hatch from brown and white rooster eggs? Roosters don’t lay eggs.
• What do you call a pig with no legs? A groundhog.
• I am an animal that holds the distinction of being the first word in many English dictionaries. What am I? An aardvark.
• I am a fruit, a bird, and a person. What am I? A kiwi.

Hard Riddles About Geography

• What is the laziest mountain in the world? Mount Everest
• What was the largest island in the world before Australia was discovered? Australia.
• What rock group has four men that can’t sing? Mount Rushmore.
• Eskimos are very good hunters, but they never hunt for penguins. Why not? Eskimos reside at the North Pole and penguins are only found at the South Pole.
• I stay in the corner but travel around the world. What am I? A stamp.

Famous Hard Riddles

• There is a house. One enters it blind and comes out seeing. What is it? A school.
• What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening? A human.
• As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives, Each wife had seven sacks, Each sack had seven cats, Each cat had seven kits: Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to St. Ives? One.
• There are 30 white horses on a red hill: first, they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still. What are they? Teeth.
• This is a thing that is devoured by all things; flowers, trees, beasts, birds; bites steel, gnaws iron; grinds hard stone to meal; beats mountain down, ruins town, and slays king. What is it? Time.

Hard Riddles About Weather

• What goes up when the rain comes down? Umbrellas.
• What splits itself before splitting something else? Lightning.
• I always follow my brother, although very different we are. You can see him, but not me. You can hear me, but not him. What am I? Thunder.
• I have an eye but cannot see. I am stronger and faster than any man alive but have no limbs. Who am I? A hurricane.
• What can be measured, but has no length, width, or height? Temperature.

Hard Riddles About Nature

• I fly without wings, I cry without eyes. What am I? A cloud.
• I am important to both human beings and animals. Both search for me but it is hard to find me. I travel to benefit them. What am I? Scent.
• What falls but never breaks? Dusk.
• What breaks but never falls? Dawn.
• I touch your face, I’m in your words. I’m lack of space and beloved by birds. What am I? Air.

Our Favorite Hard Riddles

• If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I? A mirror.
• What goes through cities and fields, but never moves? A road.
• The person who makes it has no need for it; the person who buys it has no use for it. The person who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it? A coffin.
• I have lakes with no water, mountains with no stone, and cities with no buildings. What am I? A map.
• What type of dress can never be worn? Address.

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The Best Hard Riddles

• Where there is light is the only place I can live. Yet if light shines on me I die. What am I? A shadow.
• What can run, but not walk? Water.
• What has branches and leaves, but has no bark? A library.
• What connects two people, but touches only one? A wedding ring.
• What am I when today comes before yesterday? A dictionary.

There you go! Are you riddled with excitement after reading all of these hard riddles? We sure hope you found some to share with your family and friends. Some of these are truly difficult however so keep asking them until someone correctly guesses the answer! Many hard riddles are known by heart but we hope you met a few new ones that got you scratching your head!