hard trivia questions

150+ Hard Trivia Questions and Answers

Sam Newman
By Sam Newman
Sam Newman
By Sam Newman

If you are looking for a challenge, look no further. We have scoured the internet for the toughest, trickiest, and most obscure trivia knowledge. If you can even get 10 of these hard trivia questions, you must be a super genius.

Hard Trivia Questions

Trivia Question: What musical term is indicates a chord where the notes are played one after another rather than all together?
Answer: Arpeggio

Trivia Question: “Les Fauves” was a name given to a group of artists that also included Matisse. What is its literal meaning of “Les Fauves”?
Answer: The Wild Beasts

Trivia Question: In which sport are barani, rudolph, and randolph all techniques?
Answer: Trampolining

Trivia Question: What color does gold leaf appear if you hold it up to the light?
Answer: Green

Trivia Question: What is the capital city of Paraguay?
Answer: Asuncion

Trivia Question: What is the family name of the ruling dynasty of Monaco?
Answer: Grimaldi

Trivia Question: Who collaborated with Karl Marx to produce “The Communist Manifesto”?
Answer: Friedrich Engels

Trivia Question: Which instrument is associated with Earl ‘Bud’ Powell?
Answer: Piano

Trivia Question: In which branch of the arts is Katherine Dunham famous?
Answer: Ballet

Trivia Question: Which architect designed the Woolworth Building in New York City?
Answer: Gilbert Cass

Trivia Question: Hamilton Kindley Field international airport is in which country?
Answer: Bermuda

Trivia Question: In which country is the Troi-Rivieres bridge?
Answer: Canada

Trivia Question: At which hospital did the first heart transplant take place?
Answer: Groote Schuur Hospital

Trivia Question: Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie co-created which operating system?
Answer: Unix

Trivia Question: Who was murdered along with OJ Simpson’s estranged wife Nicole?
Answer: Ronald Goldman

Trivia Question: The ‘girl in the polka dot dress’ was an eye witness in whose assassination?
Answer: Robert F. Kennedy

Trivia Question: From 1919 to 1933, the Weimar Republic was the government of what nation?
Answer: Germany

Trivia Question: Caravaggio shared a first name with what other famous artist?
Answer: Michelangelo

Trivia Question: A “crepuscular” animal becomes active at what time?
Answer: Dusk

Trivia Question: Atropos, Lachesis, and Clotho are the Three what of Greek mythology?
Answer: Fates

Trivia Question: What were the earliest forms of contraceptive made from?
Answer: Crocodile Dung

Trivia Question: Which was the only painting sold by Vincent Van Gogh during his life?
Answer: The Red Vineyards near Arles

Trivia Question: Who was the only British Pope ever?
Answer: Pope Adrian IV

Trivia Question: What was the first movie to be rated PG-13?
Answer: Red Dawn

Trivia Question: What location served as the setting for many of John Hughes’ movies?
Answer: Shermer, Illinois

Trivia Question: In 1547, who became the 1st Tsar of Russia?
Answer: Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible)

Trivia Question: Who was the first person to suggest Daylight Savings Times?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Trivia Question: What geothermal Icelandic site has the same name as a 1980 movie?
Answer: The Blue Lagoon

Trivia Question: What Scottish poet’s works inspired the book titles Of Mice and Men and Catcher in the Rye?
Answer: Robert Burns

Trivia Question: In Swedish, a skvader is a rabbit with what unusual feature?
Answer: Wings

Trivia Question: Who’s the only athlete who ever lit the cauldron for an Olympics and then won a gold medal at those same games?
Answer: Cathy Freeman

Trivia Question: If you order “murgh” from the menu at an Indian restaurant, what meat will you get?
Answer: Chicken

Trivia Question: Kersti Kaljulaid was 46 years old when she became the youngest president ever elected to lead which country?
Answer: Estonia

Trivia Question: Among land animals, what species has the largest eyes?
Answer: Ostrich

Trivia Question: Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar for what motion picture?
Answer: The African Queen

Trivia Question: What historical figure was assassinated near the Miljacka River in 1914?
Answer: Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Trivia Question: What comedy became the first film directed by a woman to gross over $100 million at the box office?
Answer: Big

Trivia Question: So far, which continent has hosted the Olympics the most times?
Answer: Europe

Trivia Question: Sahti is a type of beer that’s trad­itionally flavored with juniper. Which country would you be most likely to find it in?
Answer: Finland

Trivia Question: What is the legislature of the Netherlands called?
Answer: The States General

hard trivia questions

Trivia Question: Napoleon suffered defeat at Waterloo in what year?
Answer: 1815

Trivia Question: In 1612, who became the first person to observe the planet Neptune?
Answer: Galileo

Trivia Question: What is the world’s most venomous fish?
Answer: Stonefish

Trivia Question: What was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War?
Answer: Gettysburg

Trivia Question: Emetophobia is the fear of?
Answer: Fear of Vomit

Trivia Question: The surface area of Earth is about how many square miles?
Answer: 196.9 million mi²

Trivia Question: What insect has the shortest life span?
Answer: Mayflies

Trivia Question: What sea is next to Saudi Arabia?
Answer: Red Sea

Trivia Question: Who wrote Around the World in 80 Days?
Answer: Jules Verne

Trivia Question: John Wesley founded what Christian denomination in 1738?
Answer: Methodist

Trivia Question: The ancient Chinese concept of harmonious design, which was created to introduce a balance between humans and their environment, is called what?
Answer: Feng Shui

Trivia Question: Who discovered the life or death importance of washing hands while studying maternity wards?
Answer: Ignaz Semmelweis

hard trivia questions

Trivia Question: In 2018, a bag of 27 what were discovered by a Fisherman in Siberia?
Answer: Human hands

Trivia Question: During the mid-1970s, David Bowie’s diet reportedly consisted solely of milk, red peppers, and what else?
Answer: Cocaine

Trivia Question: Crying after sex is a normal response and is also called what?
Answer: Postcoital Dysphoria

Trivia Question: In the Gilded Age, who was called the “witch of Wallstreet.” She apparently only wore black and left behind a fortune worth $100 million.
Answer: Hetty Green

Trivia Question: The 12-foot tall flightless bird of New Zealand that became extinct 500 years ago was called what?
Answer: Moa

Trivia Question: What famous actress once tried to hire a hitman to kill her?
Answer: Angelina Jolie

Trivia Question: What are a group of hippos referred to as?
Answer: A bloat

Trivia Question: How has the Statue of Liberty changed since it was built?
Answer: It changed color

Trivia Question: What is the driest place on the earth?
Answer: The Dry Valleys in Antarctica

Trivia Question: Which bird has the largest wingspan of any living bird?
Answer: The wandering albatross

hard trivia questions

Trivia Question: Which creatures produce gossamer?
Answer: A spider

Trivia Question: What is the only king in a deck of cards without a mustache?
Answer: King of hearts

Trivia Question: How long is a “jiffy”?
Answer: One trillionth of a second

Trivia Question: Who was the first Time Magazine “Man of the Year”?
Answer: Charles Lindbergh

Trivia Question: What is the little dot above a lowercase “i” or “j” called?
Answer: Tittle

Trivia Question: What are the two stone lions’ names in front of the New York Public Library?
Answer: Patience and Fortitude

Trivia Question: Who was the first explorer to reach the North Pole?
Answer: Robert Peary

Trivia Question: Which poison do apple seeds contain?
Answer: Cyanide

Trivia Question: Who won the first Nobel Prize for Medicine?
Answer: Emil von Behring

Trivia Question: The highest denomination bill ever printed in the United States was $100,000. Who was on the bill?
Answer: President Woodrow Wilson

Trivia Question: On the periodic table, which element has an atomic weight of 1.00794?
Answer: Hydrogen

Trivia Question: What is the largest religious monument in the world (located in Cambodia)?
Answer: Angkor Wat

Trivia Question: To celebrate its 30th birthday (in 2010), Google placed a playable version of what arcade game on its homepage?
Answer: Pac-Man

Trivia Question: The Treaty of Ghent was the peace treaty that ended which war?
Answer: The War of 1812

Trivia Question: What was the name of the pig leader in George Orwell’s Animal Farm?
Answer: Napoleon

Trivia Question: America’s first multimillionaire, John Jacob Astor, made his fortune in what trade?
Answer: Fur trade

Trivia Question: The Mariana Trench, which is the deepest trench in the world, is located in which ocean?
Answer: Pacific Ocean

Trivia Question: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse all died at what age?
Answer: 27

Trivia Question: What does the “E” stand for in the name of the American restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese?
Answer: Entertainment

Trivia Question: Released in 1989, the album “Bleach” was the debut studio album by what rock band?
Answer: Nirvana

Trivia Question: Sinhala and Tamil are the official languages of which island nation?
Answer: Sri Lanka

Trivia Question: After Board Walk and Park Place, what is the next most expensive property in the game Monopoly?
Answer: Pennsylvania Avenue

Trivia Question: Which planet has moons that are nearly all named after Shakespearean characters?
Answer: Uranus

Trivia Question: What Italian sculptor/architect is credited with creating the Baroque style?
Answer: Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Trivia Question: Who wrote Flowers for Algernon?
Answer: Daniel Keyes

Trivia Question: In 1952, the United States Air Force created Project Blue Book to study what?
Answer: Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)

Trivia Question: Ambergris is a waxy substance that originates as a secretion from what aquatic animal?
Answer: Sperm whale

Trivia Question: In 1917, Finland declared its independence from which country?
Answer: Russia

Trivia Question: Peter and the Wolf is a musical composition written by which Russian composer?
Answer: Sergei Prokofiev

Trivia Question: In the human body, what is the hallux?
Answer: Big toe

Trivia Question: At the time of his assassination, what play was Abraham Lincoln watching?
Answer: Our American Cousin 

Trivia Question: The red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, belongs to which constellation?
Answer: Orion the Hunter

Trivia Question: Where in the world was Richard Nixon when he delivered his infamous “I am not a crook” speech?
Answer: Disney World (Orlando, FL)

Trivia Question: Appearing on the show in 1982, who was the youngest person ever to host Saturday Night Live?
Answer: Drew Barrymore

Trivia Question: Which two countries are connected by the Karakoram Pass?
Answer: China and India

Trivia Question: “A la Crecy” is a French cooking term that describes a dish that is made or is garnished with what?
Answer: Carrots

Trivia Question: What is the only country that displays the Bible on its national flag?
Answer: The Dominican Republic

Trivia Question: CBGB, which is the former infamous New York Music Club, stands for what?
Answer: Country, Blue Grass, and Blues

Trivia Question: What was the name of Alexander the Great’s horse?
Answer: Bucephalus

Trivia Question: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet at what U.S. landmark?
Answer: Four Corners Monument

Trivia Question: The ancient Egyptian symbol “Ouroboros” depicts a serpent eating what?
Answer: Its own tail

Trivia Question: China’s Terracotta Army includes the soldiers of what emperor?
Answer: Qin Shi Huang

Trivia Question: In Olympic archery, what is the distance between the target from the archer?
Answer: 70 Meters

Trivia Question: In 1912, what company introduced the first “cash and carry” grocery chain, which moved away from traditional delivery?
Answer: A&P

Trivia Question: What igneous rock has a density less than water?
Answer: Pumice

Trivia Question: Who was the cartoonist behind the Far Side Gallery?
Answer: Gary Larson

Trivia Question: Who is in a tie with Cloris Leachman for the most Emmys won by a female performer?
Answer: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Trivia Question: What is the name of a word that is spelled the same forwards and backward?
Answer: Palindrome

Trivia Question: Who patented the concept of a flat engine in 1896?
Answer: Karl Benz

Trivia Question: What is the name of Donald Duck’s sister?
Answer: Della Duck

Trivia Question: Which U.S. state has the motto “Live Free or Die” on their license plate?
Answer: New Hampshire

Trivia Question: In the game of pool, what is the standard color for the one ball?
Answer: Yellow

Trivia Question: Sydney Carton is the central character in what Charles Dickens novel?
Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

Trivia Question: The aardvark is native to which continent?
Answer: Africa

Trivia Question: Saskatchewan is a province of which country?
Answer: Canada

Trivia Question: What famous author tried to get his wife committed to an insane asylum so he could live with his 18-year-old mistress?
Answer: Charles Dickens

Trivia Question: What bird can remember bad memories for up to 5 years?
Answer: Kiwis

Trivia Question: In what country would you find geoglyphs known as the Nasca Lines?
Answer: Peru

Trivia Question: What country has competitive office chair racing?
Answer: Japan

Trivia Question: The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was in what restaurant commercial?
Answer: Pizza Hut

Trivia Question: Dendrophobia is the fear of what?
Answer: Trees

Trivia Question: What is the longest river in Australia?
Answer: The Murray River

Trivia Question: The highest peak of China’s Wuling Mountains is home to two Buddhist temples. How many steps must visitors take to reach the site of these temples called Fanjingshan?
Answer: 8,888

Trivia Question: What was former US President William Taft’s pet cow named?
Answer: Pauline

Trivia Question: How many vaginas do kangaroos have?
Answer: Three

Trivia Question: What Greek mathematician is considered the founder and father of Geometry?
Answer: Euclid

Trivia Question: Florence Nightingale aided the sick and wounded during what war?
Answer: The Crimean War

Trivia Question: Who was the first performer at the Woodstock festival in 1969?
Answer: Richie Havens

Trivia Question: Ancient Romans boiled vinegar and what to make an energy drink?
Answer: Goat poop

Trivia Question: Buchaechum is a traditional Korean what?
Answer: Fan dance

Trivia Question: The mascot of Kanoya City, Japan, is what?
Answer: A dancing businessman with a fish head

Trivia Question: Which Christian missionary allegedly banished all the snakes from Ireland?
Answer: Saint Patrick

Trivia Question: What dog breed has a name that translates to “little brushwood dog”?
Answer: Shiba Inu

Trivia Question: What is the process by which a Komodo Dragon can reproduce asexually?
Answer: Parthenogenesis

Trivia Question: In 1963, the New York Zoo’s Great Ape House was home to the “most dangerous animal in the world” exhibit. What was the exhibit?
Answer: A mirror

Trivia Question: What is the only bird known to fly backward?
Answer: Hummingbird

Trivia Question: The penny-farthing was a popular type of what?
Answer: Bicycle

Trivia Question: What is the capital city of Canada’s Yukon territory?
Answer: Whitehorse

Trivia Question: Who directed the 2018 superhero film, Black Panther?
Answer: Ryan Coogler

Trivia Question: What was major league baseball’s Yogi Berra’s real name?
Answer: Lawrence Peter Berra

Trivia Question: The Cajun holy trinity of cooking consists of what three vegetables?
Answer: Onions, bell peppers, and celery

Trivia Question: What was the first console video game that allowed the video game to be saved?
Answer: The Legend of Zelda

Trivia Question: What is the fungi Hydnellum peckii, also known as?
Answer: The bleeding tooth fungus

Trivia Question: What is Glenn Close allergic to? (hint: In the movie 101 Dalmatians, they had to get creative due to her allergy)
Answer: Tobacco

Trivia Question: In regards to data storage, what does the acronym SSD stand for?
Answer: Solid State Drive

Trivia Question: What is the name for the monetary unit used in Thailand?
Answer: Thai Bhat

Trivia Question: Where are dolphin’s nipples located?
Answer: Anus

Trivia Question: What island state was formerly known by the name Formosa?
Answer: Taiwan

Trivia Question: Bobby Fischer is considered to be the greatest player of all time in which game?
Answer: Chess

Trivia Question: In the game Scrabble, how many points is the letter K?
Answer: 5

More Fun Trivia Questions and Answers

Below are more quiz questions to stump you and your friends.

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