We've all been there: you're with a person or group of people you don't know very well, and no one knows what to talk about. So you fall back on the cliches: How was your weekend? Any plans for tonight? How about that weather?! These questions are boring, but icebreakers don't have to be! Our guide has 127 of the very best icebreaker questions, for any situation. Whether you're looking for funny icebreaker questions, questions to ask on a first date, good ice breaker questions for coworkers, and more, we've got you covered, so you never need to stress about what to talk about.
What Are Icebreaker Questions? When Should You Use Them?
Icebreaker questions are questions you ask to get to know someone better. The person you're asking might be a new date, a coworker, or even just the person sitting next to you on a plane or at the bar. They're a great way to strike up an interesting conversation and learn more about someone. Ice breakers can get a bad rap though, because they need to tread a fine line: not be boring, but also not be too personal (you don't know this person very well, after all!). When you ask a great icebreaker question, you can fall into an easy conversation and learn more about someone. They're great for all kinds of situations, so use them whenever you're struggling to find something to talk about. While icebreakers are mostly used in situations when you're meeting someone new, a lot of these are great to ask friends and family members, too.
Icebreaker questions don't need to be deep or profound to start good conversations. In fact, it's often better if they're not because many people are reluctant to really open up to someone they don't know well. Even seemingly-simple questions can start great conversations.
For example, if you were to ask me my most irrational fear, I'd tell you that it's being eaten by a Komodo dragon. Why? When I was a kid, I watched a TV show with a very intense reenactment of a person getting killed by Komodo dragons, and I've since learned that they're basically the perfect predator. (Oh, you want some evidence? They can take down creatures as big as water buffaloes, outrun humans, swim, climb trees, and have extremely venomous saliva that can eventually kill you even if you manage to escape being eaten.) But then, as I learned more about them, I realized Komodo dragons are endangered and often smuggled and killed for traditional medicine. I got into more of the conservation side of it, and now I want to save Komodo dragons! Just from that simple question, someone could have learned a lot about me (and also have a new and deeply unsettling fear of Komodo dragon attacks). So try out a lot of icebreaker questions, you never know what the answer will be!
Good Ice Breaker Questions for All Situations
These icebreaker questions are safe and fun to use for anyone, at any time, and any place. Get asking!
- What's your earliest childhood memory?
- If you could time travel, would you go back in time to meet your ancestors, or forward in time to meet your descendants?
- Would you rather win an Olympic medal or a Nobel prize?
- What book do you own but have never read?
- What's something on your bucket list?
- What's your favorite animal?
- Would you rather listen to country or classical music?
- Have you ever been mistaken for someone famous?
- What's your cellphone wallpaper?
- If you had your own talk show, who would your first guest be?
- What's one place you have no interest in traveling to?
- What's your most irrational fear?
- What's one thing you're really bad at?
- What's your biggest pet peeve?
- What's one thing you'll never do again?
- If you could have any new skill instantly, what would you choose?
- Do you ever think your parents gave you the wrong name?
- If you could choose to remain an age forever, what age would you choose?
- If you could only have three apps on your phone, which would you choose?
- What breed of dog do you think you would be?
- What's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?
- What's the last new thing you tried?
- What's an unusual skill you have?
- Would you like to be famous? What for?
- Have you ever won a contest?
- What would you do if you had an extra hour in the day?
- What's the last song you listened to?
- Do you believe in ghosts?
- If you had to spend $10,000 today, how would you spend it?
- If you could go to outer space for free, as a tourist, would you do it?
- On an airplane, do you prefer the window or aisle seat?
- If you had to spend a day as a fish or a bird, which would you choose?
Funny Icebreaker Questions
Want to lighten the mood? Sharing a laugh with a new acquaintance is a great way to feel closer, so try out these funny icebreaker questions!
- If you had to swap your legs with the legs of any other animal, which animal would you choose?
- What's the strangest gift you've ever received?
- What's your favorite joke to tell?
- If you had to eat a crayon, what color would you choose?
- What's the worst idea you've ever had?
- How long do you think you'd last in a zombie apocalypse?
- Have you ever eaten an entire pizza by yourself?
- What's your biggest guilty pleasure?
- How do you feel about clowns?
- What's the worst haircut you've ever gotten?
- What's your favorite meme or viral video?
- What are you hilariously bad at?
- What song or jingle always gets stuck in your head?
- What's the weirdest food combination you enjoy?
- What assumption have you made that went very wrong?
- What's your favorite useless fact?
- What's the worst advice you've ever been given?
- What's something you're kind of snobby about?
Icebreaker Questions for Work
People often especially hate coworker/team icebreaker questions because they're often straight-up boring or weirdly personal to share at the office. These icebreakers, some of which pertain to work and others to outside-the-office life, are great conversation topics for coworkers, whether they know each other well or not.
- What's the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
- What's the most recent project you put 100% into?
- What's the best book or article you've read this year?
- What's the strangest thing that's ever happened to you in a meeting?
- If the company had a mascot, what do you think it should be?
- What do you think is the best workplace snack?
- If you could be on any game show, which would you choose?
- What's the smelliest food to cook in the office microwave?
- What time of day are you most productive?
- What was your first job?
- What activity helps you relieve stress?
- What do you do during your commute?
- What is the most awkward thing that ever happened to you during an interview?
- What class you took in school has been most useful for your job?
- If there was no dress code, how would you dress for work?
- Where's your favorite place to go for lunch?
- Have you ever met anyone famous?
- If you could have any view out your office window, what would you choose?
- If you had to be a famous person's personal assistant, who would you choose?
Icebreaker Questions for Dates
There's nothing worse than being on a first date where neither of you know what to talk about, and an awkward silence settles heavily over the two of you. Avoid that by using these icebreaker questions. They're a bit more personal than the others, but still light enough to discuss with a person you've only just met.
- What's your love language?
- What's your middle name?
- Where are you a regular at?
- What's your go-to drink order?
- What's the weirdest Wikipedia rabbit hole you've stumbled down?
- What's the dorkiest thing about you?
- What's one goal you have for this year?
- Have you ever played hooky?
- What's your best travel story?
- Who was your celebrity crush growing up?
- Among your friends, what are you best known for?
- Shark diving, bungee jumping, or skydiving?
- What's your typical Sunday like?
- Did you have a nickname when you were growing up?
- Would you be more worried introducing your date to your family or your friends?
- What's the best dish you make?
- What movie do you never get tired of watching?
- How did you meet your best friend?
- Would you rather spend a year living in an RV or on a sailboat?
- Have you returned any purchases recently?
- Do you collect anything?
- What's your favorite holiday tradition?
Icebreaker Questions for Teens
Good ice breaker questions for teens are those that aren't dumbed-down, but are still fun and help the youths get to know each other better.
- What's the best animal sound you can make?
- Which emoji do you use the most?
- What's your best study tip?
- Who has been your favorite teacher, and why?
- Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?
- Have any of your teachers ever sworn in class?
- What kind of texter are you? (Fast? Slow? Lots of little texts? Perfect spelling and grammar?)
- How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
- What's your favorite Disney movie?
- What career do you think you would hate the most?
- What's the craziest dare you've ever taken?
- What's the most embarrassing thing your parents have ever done?
- Do you secretly think you're your parents' favorite child?
- What's the best dessert you've ever had?
- Which three emojis would you use to describe yourself?
- What's the worst movie you've ever seen?
- What's the first thing you do when you get home from school?
- What would be your ideal time to wake up every day?
Icebreaker Questions for Adults
It's good to avoid more R-rated topics with people you've just met, so these icebreaker questions for adults aren't raunchy, just more focused on life experiences and memories of lost youth.
- What was your dream job as a child?
- What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever emailed or texted someone?
- What was your favorite food as a child?
- What's the most embarrassing fashion trend you participated in?
- Where do you want to retire?
- What was the first concert you attended?
- What wastes the most time in your day to day life?
- What's a social cause you care about?
- What's a New Year's Resolution you made but never kept?
- What's the biggest risk you've ever taken?
- What was your favorite book growing up?
- Is there a household chore you actually enjoy doing?
- How did you spend your first paycheck?
- What do you wish was illegal?
- What big problem do you think technology will solve next?
- What slang word you are happiest went out of style?
- Who has been your strangest or most annoying neighbor?
- Which sport do you think is the most boring to watch?
What's Next?
Telling a joke is also a great way to break the ice. We've collected 119 of the best jokes sure to make anyone laugh!
Writing a research paper for school but not sure what to write about? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.
A quick, fun, and easy game to play is This or That. Here’s a huge list of This or That questions that will keep you entertained and laughing for hours!
