Sometimes when you're looking for trivia questions, you want to stump yourself or the people around you. But other times, you just want a set of easy, simple questions that anyone should be able to get right.
We dove into Water Cooler Trivia's database of tens of thousands of questions to pick 100 that are fun but more importantly, easy.
Whether you want to test yourself or put together a quiz game for others, we promise that these are some of the basic trivia questions out there.
100 Easy Trivia Questions (Updated for 2024)
- What search engine makes changes to its logo, known as "doodles," to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and famous people, such as a pointillist version in honor of artist Georges Seurat?
Answer: Google
- Relax, breathe, and tell me: a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism shares what Z-word name with a state of calm attentiveness?
Answer: Zen
- Bart runs half-heartedly for class president, and Homer runs more seriously for Springfield Sanitation Commissioner, in various episodes of what long-running animated sitcom?
Answer: The Simpsons
- A standard courtroom setting has attorneys, juries, bailiffs, stenographers, and what robed profession responsible for governing the trial at hand?
Answer: Judges
- To better fit in with the city's natural Southwestern colors, what fast-food chain uses turquoise in place of its traditional "golden arches" yellow in Sedona, Arizona?
Answer: McDonald's
- Holy guacamole! Threats to USDA inspectors prompted a brief 2022 ban on U.S. imports from Mexico of what fruit?
Answer: Avocado
- "May the Fourth be with you" is the official tagline of the galaxy-wide holiday celebrated the first week of May in honor of what sci-fi franchise?
Answer: Star Wars
- What famous museum in NYC, on 53rd St between 5th and 6th Avenue, is known for, among many things, its collection of Warhol, and is better known by its four-letter acronym?
Answer: MOMA
- A deal is made to make Washington, DC the nation's new capital in "The Room Where It Happens," a song in what smash hit Broadway musical?
Answer: Hamilton
- "Smart" credit cards or chip cards are also called EMV cards. EMV is an acronym for the trio of credit card companies that set the standard: Europay, MasterCard, and ______.
Answer: Visa
- A Roomba is a robotic version of what household appliance?
Answer: Vacuum
- The answer is under your desk: vandalism and littering led Singapore to ban the import and sale of which chewy confectionary in 1992?
Answer: Gum
- What fruit lends its name to all of the following: a record label founded by the Beatles, the daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, and the tech company of which Tim Cook is the current CEO?
Answer: Apple
- Although the keyboard shortcut for copying information is Ctrl + C, the shortcut for pasting information is not Ctrl + P (that's a shortcut for printing). Instead, the shortcut letter for pasting is closer to the shortcuts for copying and cutting. What letter is used to to paste information when clicked synchronously with Ctrl?
Answer: V
- In accounting, the term "ROI" is often used to describe the financial performance of an asset. ROI stands for "return on" WHAT?
Answer: Investment
- The winner of 15 major pro golf championships, Eldrick Tont Woods is better known by what fierce nickname that honors his father's friend, South Vietnamese Colonel Vuong Dang Phong?
Answer: Tiger
- Because they occur halfway between presidential election years, the 2022 U.S. House and Senate elections are commonly known by what name also used to refer to an important exam halfway through a college semester?
Answer: Midterms
- You can "Circle" back if this one is too hard, but take "pride" if you know it right away. What animated movie's opening scene features a rising sun, an array of wildlife, and a song with the Zulu lyrics: "Nants ingonyama bagithi baba?"
Answer: The Lion King
- Practiced in a hot and heated room, Bikram is a form of what spiritual discipline that is practiced by many people interested in building their fitness?
Answer: Yoga
- What two-word activity, often associated with Catholicism, can also refer to a desperate, last minute American football pass that attempts to save the game? Both instances involve invoking the name of Jesus’ mother.
Answer: Hail Mary
- Bananas are loaded with what special chemical element repped by a K on the periodic table?
Answer: Potassium
- A coder who can develop both client-side and server-side software is known as a full-___ developer. What word that can also mean a serving of pancakes goes in the blank?
Answer: Stack
- To honor him after his 2016 passing, the Pantone Color Institute announced a new rain-inspired shade of purple called Love Symbol #2 for what one-named rock star?
Answer: Prince
- Presumably they all saw it as a wise choice - what animal is used as a mascot by Tripadvisor, Duolingo, and Hooters?
Answer: Owl
- Minced in a pesto. Fully-leaved atop a marinara sauce. Either way, you first de-stem what B-word herb that goes in both sauces?
Answer: Basil
- Typically, a violin has 4, a guitar has 6, and a mandolin has 8. What are they?
Answer: Strings
- The fictional gas brand Dinoco is featured in several Pixar films, including what 1995 movie that debuted Woody and Buzz Lightyear?
Answer: Toy Story
- The "Tickle Me" version of what Sesame Street character was the "it" toy of the 1996 holiday season, causing some shoppers to resort to violence to obtain the coveted toy?
Answer: Elmo
- Schlongberg Sachs and Total Bankers are fictional finance companies found in various installments of what vehicle-stealing video game franchise?
Answer: Grand Theft Auto
- What startup, acquired by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, became the fourth most downloaded app in the 2010s and is known for the posting of pictures?
Answer: Instagram
- In the C-Suite, the CEO is the Chief Executive Office, the COO is the Chief Operating Officer, and the CFO is the Chief ______ Officer.
Answer: Financial
- What San Francisco neighborhood, home to Sutro Tower and named for a pair of mountains, shares its name with a surreal David Lynch TV show about murder in the Pacific Northwest?
Answer: Twin Peaks
- According to the musical based on his adventures, which Nickelodeon cartoon is not just any kind of absorbent, multicellular, deep-sea organism, but specifically, Aplysina fistularis?
Answer: SpongeBob Squarepants
- What informal term for a rabbit is used for a gentle ski slope suitable for beginners?
Answer: Bunny
- Brackish describes water that is a mix of salty sea water and which other kind of water (like from a stream)?
Answer: Fresh
- The Transamerica skyscraper, located on Montgomery St in San Francisco, the 2nd tallest building in the city, is a futurist design in what shape, outer triangles converging to a single point on top?
Answer: Pyramid
- Stockton Rush created a new kind of submersible for trips to the bottom of the North Atlantic just so tourists can see what very guessable sunken cruise ship?
Answer: Titanic / RMS Titanic
- An average human performs what basic eye function about 20 times a minute, or over ten million times a year? At year's end, your eye must be really moist.
Answer: Blink
- Der Tagesspiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are daily newspapers published in what country?
Answer: Germany
- In the programming world, the acronym SaaS stands for "software as a" WHAT?
Answer: Service
- Made from a mix of mucus and concentrated melanin, what dark substance can be secreted as a defense mechanism by many cephalopods, including squid and octopus?
Answer: Ink
- Fill in the blank: As cybersecurity threats grow, many websites have evolved to include this increased security feature known as MFA or multi-_____ authentication.
Answer: Factor
- Florida shares a land border with what state that also immediately follows it on an alphabetical list of the U.S. states?
Answer: Georgia
- We used to think we were the center of the universe until Nicolaus Copernicus helped establish heliocentrism, the idea that the Earth orbits what space thing?
Answer: The Sun
- Everything from popular Ivar to more rare names like Moalie. So boasts the new baby name bank launched by what Scandinavian furniture superstore?
Answer: IKEA
- Repping finance, pancakes, and orbiting stuff, the IMF, iHOP, and the ISS are initialisms that all contain what I-word?
Answer: International
- On "The Bachelor," the Bachelor gives what flower to contestants whom he wants to stick around for the next episode?
Answer: Rose
- Just a quick boat ride from the Statue of Liberty, what is the name of the island in New York Harbor that processed nearly 12 million immigrants to the United States in the early 1900s?
Answer: Ellis Island
- Statins are medications given to patients who have high levels of lipids in their blood, otherwise known by what "good or bad" C-name?
Answer: Cholesterol
- Mammals and birds experience a unique phase of sleep characterized by random quick motion in the eyes accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly. What's the common three-letter abbreviation for this phase?
Answer: REM
- Puerto Rico and Canada got slammed by a tropical storm that shares what F-word name with Shrek's love and the singer of that '90s hit "Criminal"?
Answer: Fiona
- Even though James Bond and Liz Taylor got it wrong when they said it's forever, which substance is still the hardest to naturally occur on Earth?
Answer: Diamond
- With the exception of the title character's sidekick, a chicken named Heihei, what 2016 Disney film cast its speaking roles with voice actors of Polynesian descent?
Answer: Moana
- A popular meme format is a man sitting at a table in a public place, and his table displays a controversial opinion, and below that opinion is the phrase "Change My ______." Fill in the one word blank, another term for the human consciousness.
Answer: Change My Mind
- The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, a military and maritime history museum with museum ships, is located along the Hudson River in what devilishly tasty sounding borough in Manhattan, NYC?
Answer: Hell's Kitchen
- What is the name of the female personification of the United States -- also what the C stands for in "Washington, D.C.?"
Answer: Columbia
- Walter Isaacson is known for his biographies of thinkers such as Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and what tech mogul who appears on the cover of his biography in his signature black turtleneck?
Answer: Steve Jobs
- What typically green nut, a member of the cashew family, is used as a flavoring for ice cream as well as in confectionary such as baklava?
Answer: Pistachio
- Facebook and Twitter, two of the most popular social media platforms of the 21st century, both use what primary color in their logos?
Answer: Blue
- Which game played on a large plastic mat with six rows of large colored circles was originally called "Pretzel"?
Answer: Twister
- Well, they do love flossing: North Carolina optometrist Dr. Brittani Carver-Schemper picked up millions of likes with her eye health videos on what social media platform that's usually more obsessed with dance challenges?
Answer: TIkTok
- Pretty much the opposite of a monarchy, what R-word type of government is defined as "the power held by the people and those who they elect"?
Answer: Republic
- After winning the women's all-around gymnastics gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Sunisa Lee went on to foxtrot and tango on Season 30 of what ABC show?
Answer: Dancing With the Stars
- Started in 1948 by Allen Funt, and running until 2014, the original hidden camera prank show was "______ Camera." Fill in the blank, an adjective meaning truthful, like a picture where the subject did not pose for the camera.
Answer: Candid Camera
- It might amuse your bouche, but theobromine is the main reason dogs shouldn't ingest what tasty dessert?
Answer: Chocolate
- San Diego Comic Con nerds went gonzo over young Galadriel during a preview for "The Rings of Power," Amazon Prime's $1 billion prequel series to what 2000s movie trilogy?
Answer: The Lord of the Rings
- The poverty-fighting agency Oxfam was founded in the relative comfort and safety of what guessable English university town?
Answer: Oxford
- A financier is a traditional French tea cake made with flour ground from what nut whose French name is "amande?"
Answer: Almond
- According to the song, when Peter Cottontail comes hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity-hoppity, what springtime holiday is on its way?
Answer: Easter
- In baseball shorthand, it's a strikeout. On the periodic table, it's potassium. In a text, it can be a quick response to, like, whatever. What's that letter?
Answer: K
- The White House is blown up by aliens on the Fourth of July holiday weekend in what 1996 Roland Emmerich film?
Answer: Independence Day
- Downward dog, sun salutation, and plank are all poses in what increasingly-common practice?
Answer: Yoga
- What is the programming language developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and named after the type of coffee from Indonesia?
Answer: Java
- Just down the street from Monica's apartment, Central Perk was a fictional coffee shop and gathering spot for the title characters of what long-running sitcom?
Answer: Friends
- The long grassy, park in Washington, DC, home to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol among others, is the National ______. Fill in the one word blank.
Answer: National Mall
- Ukraine shares land borders with two R-word countries: Russia and what vampire-heavy nation that's about an 18 hour drive from the capital of Italy?
Answer: Romania
- In a famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate in June 1987, President Ronald Reagan exhorted Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down what structure that symbolized the division of Germany?
Answer: Berlin Wall
- Famous blue jean maker Strauss, U.S. vice president Morton, and American cyclist Leipheimer all share which first name?
Answer: Levi
- What "big red dog" introduced in 1963 was named for the imaginary childhood friend of creator Norman Bridwell's wife?
Answer: Clifford
- What structure notorious for its 3.97 degree tilt is the freestanding bell tower of a cathedral in its namesake Italian town? The structure's tilt comes from the soft ground of its unstable foundation.
Answer: Leaning Tower of Pisa
- In 1954, what organ, which processes the body's waste product and comes in pairs, was the first to be successfully transplanted in a human?
Answer: Kidney
- As of March 2022, Pattinson joined a list including West, Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney, Bale, and Affleck to play which character on the silver screen?
Answer: Batman
- One of the inspirations for Miranda Priestly was Anna Wintour, the current editor-in-chief at Vogue. Each year she hosts a gala at what New York museum that is NOT the home of a Queens-based baseball team?
Answer: Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Founded in 1922 by a retired, uh, agricultural professional, what insurance company didn't adopt their "Like a Good Neighbor" slogan until 1971?
Answer: State Farm
- If you met five African American singers from the same family in Indiana whose first names were Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael and Tito, what would their last name most likely be?
Answer: Jackson
- What triangular building, formerly the Fuller Building, opened in 1902 on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and has become a geographic landmark in its namesake district? Its name is for its shape, a smushed laundry device.
Answer: Flatiron Building
- NYU professor Rachel Chu discovers that her boyfriend, Nick Young, is the scion of a wealthy Singapore family in what 2013 satirical novel by Kevin Kwan?
Answer: Crazy Rich Asians
- The Library is one of the nine rooms in which Mr. Boddy might have met his untimely death, in what classic board game?
Answer: Clue
- Signifying the length of time a property has been listed, the real-estate abbreviation DOM stands for "days on" WHAT?
Answer: Market
- Originally, they were called Baby Gays. Then they rebranded as Q-Tips, with the Q standing for what word related to high standards?
Answer: Quality
- One of Andy Warhol's most famous artworks is a set of 32 canvases, each bearing an image of a red-and-white can of soup from what company?
Answer: Campbell's
- If you slice a breakfast ball over the cabbage and get a fried egg in the bunker, you're not eating an eclectic brunch course. What sport are you playing and almost certainly not making a par?
Answer: Golf
- A 401(k) is a type of tax-advantage defined-contribution account designed to help you save for what withdrawal from working life?
Answer: Retirement
- In the U.S., a road sign which is an equilateral triangle is most often associated with what five-letter action?
Answer: Yield
- If 80 critics review a movie and at least 75% of those reviews are positive, then a movie is deemed "Certified Fresh" according to what website?
Answer: Rotten Tomatoes
- The T206 Honus Wagner card was considered the most valuable sports card throughout most of the 20th century after it was sold for record-breaking sums at multiple auctions. It was initially designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company before Wagner refused to allow production because he did not want children to buy cigarette packs to get his card. What sport did Wagner famously play?
Answer: Baseball
- Stratus, cumulus, cirrus, and nimbus are all types of what everyday object?
Answer: Clouds
- In the common business or science abbreviation "R&D," what does the letter R stand for?
Answer: Research
- Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again. The famous Humpty Dumpty character has appeared for centuries (including in works by by Lewis Carroll). What food is Humpty Dumpty commonly portrayed as?
Answer: Egg
- In 1999 Shigetaka Kurita invented what keyboard additions for cell phones that would eventually replace emoticons and even get their own movie?
Answer: Emojis
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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