2,062 Easy Riddles With Answers
Easy does not mean boring. These are the riddles that land in a few seconds - the ones where the answer arrives with a small click of satisfaction rather than ten minutes of frustration. That makes them the right way to start any riddle session, with any audience.
Use them to warm a group up before the hard ones. A room that has solved three riddles in a row will happily attack a fourth that takes ten minutes; a room that has failed the first one usually gives up.
Every riddle here has its answer on the page. Most are short enough to read aloud from memory once you have seen them twice.
What has a mouth but can't talk?
A river has a "mouth" where it meets the sea, but it obviously cannot speak.
A plane crashed on the border of US and Canada. Where do they bury the survivors?
This is a trick question — survivors, by definition, are alive and therefore aren't buried.
Salty water everywhere but not sea in sight.
Tears are salty like seawater but come from crying, not the ocean.
I love to dance and twist and prance. I shake my tail, as away I sail. Wingless I fly into the sky.
A kite dances on the wind with a fluttering tail, soaring skyward without wings.
What can you lose that will cause other people to lose theirs too?
Losing your temper often provokes others around you to lose theirs as well.
This is a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry.
A pie is defined as a baked dish with a pastry crust on top and bottom, filled with fruit or savory ingredients.
What dresses for summer and sheds in the winter?
Deciduous trees grow full leaves ('dress up') in summer and shed them in winter.
What runs but cannot walk?
A runny nose 'runs' (drips) but obviously can't walk.
What do people make that you can't see?
Noise is made constantly by people but has no visible form.
I am million people's wakeup call. What am I?
Coffee, made from roasted coffee beans, is millions of people's daily wake-up ritual.
I am green and ugly and come out at night with a crumple old broom. Who am I?
This describes the classic storybook image of a green-skinned witch flying on an old broomstick at night.
What can hold all days, weeks, and months but still fit on a table?
A calendar displays all days, weeks, and months while being small enough to sit on a desk.
Attracted by light but flies at night. It's winged and hairy but not too scary. What is it?
Moths are famously drawn to light sources and are winged, fuzzy nocturnal insects.
What comes down but never back goes up?
Rain falls down from clouds and doesn't rise back up on its own.
Sport olympians use this to get high jump up in the air.
Pole vaulters use a long pole to launch themselves high into the air.
Hot tempered and sometimes it blows its top, making a mess of everything.
A volcano is described as 'hot-tempered' because when it erupts ('blows its top'), it spews lava and ash everywhere.
Without feather or wing I fly, but you'll known what I am when I hover near by. What am I?
A helicopter has no feathers or fixed wings like a plane, yet it can fly and hover in place.
I am the noise Santa's reindeers make. What am I?
Santa's reindeer are often described as making a 'jingle' sound, like sleigh bells.
What has a brown coat, a long tail, and lives in house or shed but most active while you're in bed?
A mouse is small, brown-coated, long-tailed, and most active at night while people sleep.
What has teeth but no mouth?
A saw blade has sharp teeth used for cutting, but obviously no mouth.
Everybody's got one.
Everyone has at least one secret they keep to themselves.
It is a gruesome form of betray.
A 'backstab' describes an especially vicious, treacherous betrayal, often of someone close to you.
I can be full, but I will never spill. I disappear at times, but return I always will.
The moon can appear 'full' without ever spilling anything, and it seems to disappear (new moon) before reliably returning each month.
What can be seen but not touched?
A shadow is visible on a surface, but since it's just an absence of light, there's nothing physical there to touch.
When this is found in a road you are forced to make a decision.
A fork in the road splits into two paths, forcing you to choose which direction to take.
Many foods can make me strong but give me water and I won't last long.
Fuel (like wood or oil) makes a fire burn stronger, but pouring water on it will quickly put it out.
You may have to assure your date's dad that you have these kind of intentions.
A protective parent often wants reassurance that their child's date has honorable intentions.
He died for people's entertainment.
Roman gladiators fought, and often died, in the arena purely to entertain crowds of spectators.
Fighting technique taken from rams.
Rams fight by ramming their heads together, which is exactly what a head-butt mimics.
This is your stomach's way of letting you know you've neglected it.
A stomach grumbles or growls audibly when it's empty and hasn't been fed in a while.
What gets beaten, and whipped, but never cries?
In cooking, eggs are 'beaten' and 'whipped' to prepare them, but being inanimate they never actually cry.
A precious fluid, thicker than water.
Blood is denser than water, and the phrase 'blood is thicker than water' emphasizes family bonds as more important than casual ties.
I have two hands but cannot clap.
A clock's hour and minute 'hands' point at numbers but can't physically come together to clap.
What gets broken without being held?
A promise is an intangible commitment, so it can be 'broken' (not kept) without ever being physically held.
What has 3 feet but cannot walk?
A yardstick measures exactly three feet (36 inches) in length, but as a tool it obviously can't walk.
What goes in the water black and comes out red?
Live lobsters are typically dark bluish-black, but turn bright red once cooked in boiling water.
What do you have when you're sitting down that you don't have when you're standing up?
A 'lap' only exists as the flat surface formed by your thighs when you sit; it disappears when you stand.
What has a big mouth, yet never speaks?
A jar has a wide opening called its 'mouth,' but being an inanimate object, it never actually talks.
This both describes a gorgeous woman and an excellent punch.
"Knockout" is slang for a strikingly beautiful person and also describes a powerful, fight-ending punch.
You use lots of me, yet right you use me when you're done. What am I?
People go through a lot of toilet paper, and using it correctly matters most once you're finished.
When it's dirty this should never be aired in public.
The idiom "airing your dirty laundry" means exposing private, embarrassing matters in public, playing on both the literal and figurative meaning.
Low on cash? Pick out items from this rack.
Shoppers on a tight budget often look for deeply discounted items on the clearance rack.
Maritime marauders.
Pirates are seafaring raiders who plunder ships, fitting the description of "maritime marauders."
Two-year-old children who throw tantrums get this nickname. So did the tsar Ivan.
Toddlers are often called "the terrible twos," and Tsar Ivan IV of Russia is famously known as "Ivan the Terrible."
Dragons are known to do this to their gold.
In myth and fantasy, dragons famously hoard, collect and jealously guard, piles of treasure.
Salty water everywhere but not a sea in sight.
Tears are salty just like seawater, but they come from crying rather than an ocean.
Sauerkraut owes its existence to this head.
Sauerkraut is made from fermented shredded cabbage, so a "head" of cabbage is what makes it possible.
The weapon of choice to create the biggest shock.
A stun gun delivers an electric shock, literally shocking its target, a pun on "shock."
What is as big as you are and yet does not weigh anything?
A shadow matches your size and shape exactly but has no mass or weight at all.
Cycle, cycle, cycle.
Saying "cycle" three times represents "tri-cycle," three cycles.
Timid or weak people are said to not have these.
"Backbone" is used figuratively to mean courage or resolve; someone timid is said to "lack backbone."
What you become during a workout?
Physical exertion during a workout makes your body perspire, leaving you sweaty.
Up on high I wave away but not a word can I say.
A flag waves in the breeze atop a pole but, being an inanimate object, cannot actually speak.
His big belly supposedly has the ability to dispense good fortune.
Statues of a laughing, round-bellied Buddha are popularly believed in folk tradition to bring good luck when rubbed.
The artistic vandal's best friend.
Spray paint is the tool of choice for graffiti artists, and vandals, creating art quickly on walls and surfaces.
A setting that proved to be deadly for Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play at Ford's Theatre, making a theater the deadly setting.
I love to twist and dance. Though wingless, I fly high up into the sky. What am I?
A kite twists and dances on the wind and, despite having no wings, soars high into the sky. A near-identical riddle, #924 in the source, repeats this wording almost verbatim with the same answer and was merged into this entry as a duplicate.
The itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot variety is quite popular.
This references the classic novelty song about an "itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini."
An art-form and a web-browser.
Opera is a classical art form combining music and drama, and it's also the name of a web browser.
Slang for the male half in a marriage.
"Hubby" is a common informal nickname for "husband."
What dentists battle on a daily basis.
Cavities, or tooth decay, are the primary problem dentists work to prevent and treat every day.
They are the shore's gallant knights.
The coast guard protects the shoreline and rescues those in peril, much like knights defending a realm.
What has a ring but no finger?
A telephone "rings" to signal an incoming call, though it has no finger to wear an actual ring.
If it is absolute, it will corrupt absolutely.
This riddle references the famous saying that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Environmentalists want to keep this from drying.
Wetlands are critical ecosystems that environmentalists work to protect from drying out and disappearing.
I am the red tongue of the earth, that buries cities.
Lava is the glowing red molten rock that can bury entire cities during volcanic eruptions, as at Pompeii.
What can you blow up and keep intact?
Inflating, or "blowing up," a balloon fills it with air without destroying it, unlike "blowing up" something explosively.
What sphinxes employ and players enjoy.
The mythical Sphinx famously posed riddles to travelers, and riddles are also a fun form of wordplay for game players.
The little pink nub that helps rectify mistakes.
The pink rubber nub on the end of a pencil is an eraser, used to correct writing mistakes.
Watches students at the prom to make sure there's no funny business.
Chaperones are adults assigned to supervise students at events like prom to prevent inappropriate behavior.
What can be broken without being touched?
A promise can be "broken" simply by failing to keep it, with no physical contact involved.
I am always hungry, I must always be fed. The finger I lick will soon turn red.
Fire must be continuously "fed" fuel to keep burning, and touching, or "licking," it will burn your finger red.
Responsible for the toupee industry.
A receding hairline or bald spot is exactly what drives people to buy toupees to cover it up.
Every team needs one of these before hitting the field. Get pumped!
A pep talk is a motivational speech coaches give teams before a game to get them energized.
Brings celebrities into your home every night.
Television broadcasts bring actors, musicians, and other celebrities into viewers' living rooms nightly.
What is black when it is clean and white when it is dirty?
A chalkboard is black when freshly cleaned but looks white and chalky when covered in dust from writing.
U always follows me but I am rarely seen. What am I?
In English spelling, the letter Q is almost always followed by U, yet Q itself appears far less often than other letters.
He prefers to travel on vines and pal around with gorillas.
Tarzan, the fictional jungle hero, famously swings through the jungle on vines and lives alongside gorillas.
I am so simple that I can only point. Yet I guide men all over the world.
A compass needle can only point, toward magnetic north, yet that simple function is enough to guide travelers anywhere on Earth.
Has four legs, but is not alive.
A chair has "legs" like an animal but is an inanimate object.
These are knee-length formal wear for men popular in the highlands.
Kilts are the traditional knee-length garment worn by men in the Scottish Highlands.
People in love are often bound to this.
People in love often become "bound" -- legally and emotionally -- through marriage.
An accessory sported by many construction workers.
Construction workers wear hard hats to protect their heads from falling debris; it's the classic accessory associated with the job.
Hearing something unexpected or touching a live wire can have this effect.
Both a surprising piece of news and an electrical shock can be described as 'shocking.'
With hands that can't hold and eyes that can't see, she's cherished by some but has no real family. Who is she?
A doll has hands and painted eyes that don't actually function, yet children treasure it as if it were a real companion.
Fred and Wilma's child, named after a stone.
Pebbles Flintstone is the daughter of Fred and Wilma in The Flintstones, named after small stones.
They are toothy nocturnal immortals.
Vampires are traditionally depicted with fangs, active only at night, and unable to die of old age.
A salutation from the islands.
'Aloha' is the Hawaiian greeting, fitting for an island salutation.
It is a desert oasis where money magically appears or disappears from your pocket.
Las Vegas is a city built in the Nevada desert, famous for casinos where fortunes are won and lost.
These women make princesses scrub floors and sometimes try to poison them with apples.
In fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White, the wicked stepmother forces the heroine into servitude or tries to have her poisoned.
It is a common and favored clothing material among biker gangs and superheroes.
Leather jackets and outfits are iconic to both motorcycle riders and many comic-book superheroes.
What speeds on a track but isn't in a race and has a whistle to announce its steady pace?
A train runs along tracks at a steady speed and blows its whistle, without competing in any race.
Someone who is enthusiastic about tending the garden is said to have this appendage.
'Having a green thumb' is the common phrase for someone who is skilled at gardening.
The more I lie, the more people trust me. Who am I?
This is a cynical joke about politicians: the more they lie convincingly, the more voters seem to believe them.
Perhaps the most important adjective for ballerinas and princesses.
Both ballerinas and princesses are prized for moving and carrying themselves gracefully.
A person's greatest asset.
Intelligence is often considered a person's most valuable and enduring resource, more so than wealth or looks.
Some keep it in a dumpster while others keep it in their trunk.
'Junk' can be thrown into a dumpster, or, as in the phrase 'trunk junk,' kept stashed away in a car's trunk.
Soldiers fight it but never changes.
Soldiers fight in wars, but the grim nature of war itself has remained fundamentally unchanged throughout history.
The signature stroll of ducks and penguins.
Ducks and penguins are known for their distinctive side-to-side waddling walk.
Surname of the pilot of the Millennium Falcon.
Han Solo is the famous pilot of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars.
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