Optometry is a healthcare profession that involves the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of visual disorders and diseases of the eye. Optometrists are trained to perform comprehensive eye exams, prescribe eyeglasses and contact lenses, and diagnose and treat various eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration. Optometry is a rapidly evolving field, and optometrists play a critical role in helping people maintain good eye health and vision.
Optometry is an important and fascinating field, with a rich history and a wide range of knowledge and skills required. From the anatomy and physiology of the eye to the latest advances in technology and treatment, optometry offers a wealth of information to learn and explore. Whether you're an optometrist, a student, or just someone interested in eye health, optometry trivia is a great way to test your knowledge and learn something new.
Here are some examples of optometry trivia questions: What is the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist? What is the structure of the retina responsible for sharp vision? What is the most common cause of presbyopia? What is the difference between farsightedness and nearsightedness? These questions and others like them provide a glimpse into the world of optometry and the fascinating science and art of maintaining good eye health and vision.
96 Optometry Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- 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
- The human retina contains receptor cells of two different types: rods and what tapered shapes?
Answer: Cones
- Also known as a refractor, what is the P-word for the opthalmic testing device with many different lenses used in succession for testing a patient's eyesight?
Answer: Phoropter
- There are non-image-forming ganglion cells in the human eye (and other mammals) that are still photosensitive and receive light signals that can help regulate and suppress the production of what "M" hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake schedule?
Answer: Melatonin
- First performed by ophthalmologist Dr. Marguerite McDonald in 1988, what acronymic surgical procedure is also referred by its lesser-known lengthier term, laser in-situ keratomileusis?
Answer: LASIK
- What “K” optical condition occurs when the cornea thins and bulges outward from the eye, resulting in blurred vision and potential light sensitivity?
Answer: Keratoconus
- In ophthalmology, DME is a common abbreviation for macular edema, or fluid accumulation in the eye, caused by what underlying medical condition?
Answer: diabetes
- The logMAR chart has kind of outpaced what visual acuity chart named for a Dutch opthalmologist?
Answer: Snellen chart
- Amblyopia is more commonly known as what languishing two-word term that is described as “reduced vision in one eye caused by abnormal visual development early in life” by the Mayo Clinic?
Answer: Lazy eye
- When the eye experiences altitudinal visual field defects, the eye will create a line in one’s vision, known as the horizontal ______, where distortion will occur on one side of the line. Fill in the one word “M” blank, a word that also defines a prime line of zero longitude on the globe.
Answer: Horizontal Meridian
- Vitreous ______ (or fluid) is the clear, gelatinous substance between the lens of the eye and the retina (Hint: It’s a “funny” word).
Answer: Humor
- Hey, this isn't about optometry at all! "I just want you to know who I am" gets whined repeatedly at the end of "Iris," a '90s hit by what childish alt rock band?
Answer: Goo Goo Dolls
- What “C” word is the mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye and the inside of the eyelids?
Answer: Conjunctiva
- What term means the vascular membrane containing large branched pigmented cells that lies between the retina and the sclera of the eye in vertebrate animals?
Answer: Choroid
- The glaucoma-seekin' test to measure intraocular pressure is commonly known by what breezy P-word that it shares with the name of a certain resident of Honah Lee?
Answer: Puff
- Which eyewear startup founded in 2010 began with an online-only business model and promised to donate one pair of glasses for every pair purchased?
Answer: Warby Parker
- Optical lens making with a natural stone called Diyatarippu was common practice during the 1400s in what teardrop-shaped Indian Ocean country?
Answer: Sri Lanka
- Amblyopia, a sight disorder where the brain fails to process inputs from one eye and favors the other, is better known as what?
Answer: Lazy Eye
- What “M” word is an alternate word, derived from the Greek, for nearsightedness? It has become an adjective meaning lacking imagination.
Answer: Myopia
- In the anatomy of the eye, what is the name of the small depression in the retina, where one's field of vision is centered?
Answer: Fovea
- On an eyeglass prescription form the initialism "O.D." stands for "oculus dexter," meaning what kind of eye?
Answer: Right
- Orthokeratology uses specially designed contact lenses to temporarily reshape what eye part?
Answer: Cornea
- What “T” device is used by eye care professionals to measure the intraocular pressure of the human eye, to test against the presence of issues such as glaucoma?
Answer: Tonometer
- Central, high-resolution, color vision in humans is thanks to an oval-shaped, pigmented area of the retina known by what M-word name that sounds like a vampire that loves Quarter Pounders?
Answer: Macula
- What “M” 17th century Anglo-Irish writer and scientist, friend of John Locke and proposer of his namesake “problem”, wrote a book about optics and lenses in 1692? His book mentioned myopia and issues with close-up vision.
Answer: William Molyneux
- A person with heterochromia has more than one what for each eye?
Answer: Eye color
- There are two kinds of photoreceptors in the human retina, each responsible for vision at different intensities of light. Name BOTH.
Answer: rods, cones
- What 1st century Greek mathematician and engineer, from the city of Alexandria, showed that a path of light is shortest when reflected by a plane mirror, in his book “Catoptrica?” His name implies that he was a real savior to his people.
Answer: Hero Of Alexandria
- What “H” vision condition is a refractive error that causes objects up close blurry? It is a common condition among people who call themselves farsighted.
Answer: Hyperopia
- What “P” eye condition is when the eye muscles become less elastic and more rigid, resulting in difficult reading smaller print up close? It is a condition often treated in older patients with bifocals.
Answer: Presbyopia
- What “M” type of degeneration in the eye, occurring most often in aging patients, is blurry and reduced vision caused by a thinning of a membrane in the back of the retina?
Answer: Macular Degeneration
- A couple of German immigrants started a monocle business in Rochester, New York: those are the humble-ish beginnings of what contact lense-makin' juggernaut?
Answer: Bausch + Lomb
- What “C” optical condition, a redness and swelling of the tissue lining the eyelids and white parts of the eyes, is often referred to as “pink eye?”
Answer: Conjunctivitis
- What “R” eye condition, often caused by diabetes, occurs when tiny blood vessels inside the light sensitive cells at the back of the eye hemorrhage, and can often lead to blindness?
Answer: Retinopathy
- What small “F” objects, which people observe in their eyes as they age, are caused by clumping of the eye’s vitreous, creating shadows on the retina? As a result, these tiny drifting particles appear to be buoyantly crossing your eye.
Answer: Floaters
- No joke analogy: vitreous is to the lens and retina, as WHAT is to the space between the cornea and the lens?
Answer: Aqueous
- An optometrist might use what device to shine a light into a patient's eye and determine the degree of refractive error?
Answer: Retinoscope
- What comedian, also known for being the wife and comedy partner to George Burns, was born with heterochromia? The condition reportedly made her self-conscious about the transition from black-and-white to color television.
Answer: Gracie Allen
- Achromatopsia, an inherited condition that can lower sharpness of vision, or cause colorblindness, is caused by lack of receptors on what portion of the eye?
Answer: Retina
- The medical term for the left eye is O.S., with the “S” standing for what word, also a word meaning giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening?
Answer: Oculus Sinister
- Medicated eye drops used to treat glaucoma are known as ______ Blockers. Fill in the one word “B” blank, also the second letter of the Greek alphabet.
Answer: Beta Blockers
- Fill in the punny blank in this classic dad joke: An optometrist fell into a glass grinder and made a BLANK of himself?
Answer: Spectacle
- Which part of the eye is named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow? An alternative medicine technique developed by Ignaz von Peczely involves determining a patient’s health based on characteristics of this part of the eye.
Answer: Iris
- What “A” term refers to an eye rotation away from the midline? Not to be confused with subduction.
Answer: Abduction
- Some eye conditions require the use of ablation, surgical removal of tissue often performed using what “L” beam of stimulated photons?
Answer: Laser
- A global non-profit that tries to prevent blindness through correction of refractive error is Optometry Giving ______. Fill in the one word “S” blank, the faculty of being able to observe things.
Answer: Optometry Giving Sight
- Fill in the "WHAT"s on this optometry joke: How do you take over the globe? With a WHAT WHAT.
Answer: Contact lens
- Which type of eye chart used for testing near visual acuity has a name meaning “hunter” in German?
Answer: Jaeger
- If you don’t eat enough fish, dairy, and carrots, you might not be able to see well in the dark. Which vitamin deficiency leads to night blindness?
Answer: Vitamin A
- Which vision disorder of depth perception occurs because the two images from each eye cannot be combined to produce 3D vision?
Answer: Stereoblindness
- Aphakia is a condition where which part is absent from the eye?
Answer: Lens
- If a patient has epiphora, there is either a blockage in the lacrimal duct causing overflow or the overproduction of what?
Answer: Tears
- What is the more common term for nyctalopia—or, not being able to see well in low or dim light?
Answer: Night Blindness
- Blepharoconjunctivitis is a really long word that means which part of the eye is inflamed?
Answer: Conjunctiva
- A patient with accommodative or refractive ______ has one eye that turns in more than the other when they’re trying to focus on something.
Answer: Esotropia
- The Snellen Chart (the lettered chart used for measuring visual acuity) is named after Herman Snellen, an optometrist born in the city of Utrecht in what European country?
Answer: The Netherlands
- What’s the name of the black-and-white lined chart that can be used to check for visual distortion caused by macular damage?
Answer: Amsler Grid
- A person who has been infected with the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum is at risk for which eye disease that can cause vision loss?
Answer: ocular histoplasmosis syndrome
- A patient with a “macular pucker” has a scar over the macula of their eye. The condition is also called ERM, which stands for what?
Answer: Epiretinal Membrane
- Campimetry is the systematic measurement of visual field function. What word, which comes from the Greek words for "around" and "measure", is another name for campimetry?
Answer: Perimetry
- If you’re trying to recall the four parts of the optic nerve of the eye, just remember that they all start with “I!” Intraocular, intraorbital, intracanalicular, and ______.
Answer: Intracranial
- What type of lamp is actually a microscope with a powerful light that can be used to look inside the eyeball?
Answer: Slit
- Which K-term is used for measuring how curved the cornea is?
Answer: Keratometry
- Which term is used to describe an infant born with one or both eyes being abnormally small?
Answer: Microphthalmia
- Which R-term refers to disease or damage to the small vessels of the thin layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye? (Hint: It’s common in people with diabetes).
Answer: Retinopathy
- Central Retinal ______ Occlusion (CRVO) is a condition where the vessel that drains blood from the retina is blocked.
Answer: Vein
- Humphrey and Goldmann are examples of which type of test that can show how much of an area a patient can see and how well they can see different parts of it? (Hint: It's also called perimetry).
Answer: Visual Field
- Optical coherence ______ (OCT) is a type of scan used to look at the structures of the eye and evaluate them for diseases like glaucoma.
Answer: Tomography
- Orbital ______ cysts (or congenital choristoma of the orbit) are benign tumors that can put pressure on the optic nerve and may lead to vision loss.
Answer: Dermoid
- Which ophthalmic instrument is used to verify that a prescription in a pair of glasses or contacts is right for a patient by measuring its diopter power? (Hint: It’s also called a vertometer)
Answer: Lensmeter
- Open-angle and closed-angle are two terms that describe which group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve?
Answer: Glaucoma
- The World Council of Optometry (WCO) is a membership organization and the only optometric organization to have official relations with the World Health Organization. If you were to "meet me in" the U.S. city where the WCO is headquartered, what city would we be in?
Answer: St. Louis
- Often a result of astigmatism, the condition commonly known as a lazy eye is more formally known in medicine by what term, from the Ancient Greek for “blunted sight?”
Answer: Amblyopia
- Which part of the eye is located behind the sclera and contains the iris, ciliary body, and choroid?
Answer: Uvea
- Which type of error refers to how the shape of the eye affects its ability to bend light and causes blurry vision?
Answer: Refractive
- Visual ______ (VA) measures how well a patient sees detail (or, more broadly, how clear or sharp their vision is) when they’re looking from a distance. (Hint: A Snellen chart is a common way to test it)
Answer: Acuity
- A patient’s baseline prescription can be established by using which instrument controlled by a computer that measures refractive error?
Answer: Optometer
- Which tool is used to assess astigmatism by measuring the curvature of the front of the cornea?
Answer: Keratometer
- Which tool measures the thickness of the cornea?
Answer: Pachymeter
- Which eye condition that can be caused by a skin condition with seborrhea or staph infections is sometimes called “eye dandruff?”
Answer: Blepharitis
- The retina, optic disc, macular, fovea, and posterior pole are contained within which interior structure of the eye?
Answer: Fundus
- What is the Latin "C" word that is used in English to refer to either an eyelash (when speaking anatomically) or an organelle on eukaryotic cells that projects from a much larger cell body (when speaking microbiologically)?
Answer: Cilium
- When working on the film "How I Won the War" in 1966, a certain celebrity was given a pair of round "granny-style" glasses for the role. These spectacles became a key part of this individual's look and helped popularize the style of the glasses around Great Britain and more of the world. Who was this man?
Answer: John Lennon
- Balls covered in letters used to help strabismus, hand-eye coordination, TBI, and other maladies are known by what M-word that happens to be the surname of the dude who played Cyclops in "X-Men"?
Answer: Marsden
- What is the "S" name for the speedy, synchronized movements of both eyes towards the same direction that is controlled by the brain's frontal lobe?
Answer: Saccades
- What gland above the eye releases fluid that cleanses and protects the eye’s surface as it moistens? The fluid is commonly referred to as tears.
Answer: Lacrimal gland
- Although more well-known for his fiction and character creations, what famous author was also an ophthalmologist? He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the 1870s, was a determined supporter of compulsory vaccination, and partially based his most famous character on a former university teacher.
Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The human eye has six different muscles that controls its movements: the lateral ______, the medial ______, the inferior ______, the superior ______, the inferior oblique, and the superior oblique. What is the word that has been removed four times?
Answer: Rectus
- What English philosopher, also known as Doctor Mirabilis, wrote in 1263 in his book “Opus Majus” that lenses could be used to affect the human eye? His last name is the same as part of a hearty American breakfast.
Answer: Roger Bacon
- A visit to the optometrist might be quite the ordeal for someone who suffers with what word defining the fear of eyes?
Answer: Ommatophobia
- In May 2009, a company co-founder of e-commerce prescription glasses retailer Warby Parker discovered a Jack Kerouac exhibit featuring the characters Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker, which led to the naming of his new startup. In what New York institution was this founder wandering?
Answer: Public Library
- Tending to appear when a person is tired, what P-word means the loss of binocular vision because the two eyes are no longer focusing on the same object?
Answer: phoria
- Copepods are small marine crustaceans found in nearly every saltwater and freshwater environment. Somewhat uniquely, these organisms have three of what part of the eye?
Answer: Lens
- The history of the first pair of eyeglasses is generally inconclusive, but some of the oldest optical lens-making tradition occurred in what South Asian nation in which King Bhuvanekabahu the IV (AD 1346 - 1353) had craftsmen with royal patronage creating eyeglasses with a special natural stone?
Answer: Sri Lanka
- What is the two-word name for the anatomical feature at the base of the brain's hypothalamus where the optic nerves of both eyes meet and cross? We'll give you a hint: the first word is "optic."
Answer: Optic chiasm
- Under the supervision of Dr. Alan Isen in a television studio, who was the first U.S. President to appear in public wearing contact lenses? This occurred during the decade in which contact lenses first had mass appeal thanks to improved manufacturing technology.
Answer: Lyndon Johnson
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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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