Sneezing
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40 free Sneezing trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
A sneeze is over in a moment, yet it is one of the body's most elaborate reflexes: a signal races along a nerve from the lining of the nose, a deep breath is drawn, and a blast of air clears the irritant away. Almost everything about it invites a question, from why some people sneeze at the sun to whether the old warnings about sneezing are true. This quiz gathers the best facts about sneezing in one place. It covers the biology of the reflex, the allergies and infections behind most sneezing fits, animals that sneeze for surprising reasons, a famous record, an early film, and the blessings, omens and superstitions that different cultures attach to a sneeze. It is written for curious people of any age who enjoy a good fun fact, and for teachers, quiz hosts and parents who want reliable science trivia with a short explanation after every answer.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The body's sneeze reflex is switched off while a person is doing which of these?
Sleeping
Sleeping in the REM stage brings on atonia, which leaves motor neurons unstimulated so reflex signals are never relayed, though a strong enough irritant can wake a person up to sneeze.
Q 02Which Galápagos reptile clears excess salt from its body by sneezing it out through its nostrils?
Marine iguana
Marine iguana salt glands filter the blood and expel the brine at the nostrils in a sneeze-like burst, and the skull has an unusually large nasal cavity to hold them.
Q 03Which African predators hold a kind of vote by sneezing to decide whether the group sets off to hunt?
Wild dogs
Wild dogs rally before a hunt, and the more of them that sneeze, the likelier the pack is to leave; when a dominant animal starts it, around three sneezes settle the matter.
Q 04The longest sneezing fit on record, which struck Britain's Donna Griffiths in 1981, lasted nearly how long?
Three years
Three years, near enough: it was two years and eight months before her first sneeze-free day, which Guinness counts as day 977, and she sneezed an estimated million times in the first year alone.
Q 05Fred Ott's Sneeze, one of the oldest surviving copyrighted films, was made in 1894 by which American inventor's company?
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison's studio filmed his employee Fred Ott sneezing in a clip about five seconds long, and in 2015 the Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry.
Q 06Piperine, a chemical said to irritate the nostrils, is blamed for the sneezing fits caused by which kitchen spice?
Black pepper
Black pepper gets its pungency from piperine, an alkaloid potent enough that it is also used as an insecticide and as an animal pest repellent.
Q 07Gesundheit, the German word many Americans say after a sneeze, literally means what?
Health
Health is the wish in plenty of languages: German Gesundheit, Spanish salud, Italian salute and Swahili afya all mean exactly that.
Q 08In Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the dwarf Sneezy owes his explosive sneezes to which condition?
Hay fever
Hay fever gives Sneezy sneezes powerful enough to blow even the heaviest objects across a room, which is how the dwarf earned his name.
Q 09A lasting folk belief, with no basis in physiology, holds that which organ stops for an instant during a sneeze?
The heart
The heart keeps working through a sneeze, but the old idea that it paused is one of the folk explanations offered for the custom of blessing anyone who sneezes.
Q 10Which tissue brand, launched in 1924 as a cold cream remover, did customers turn into a disposable handkerchief?
Kleenex
Kleenex was first promoted with film stars wiping off stage make-up, until a newspaper test in Peoria, Illinois showed that most buyers were blowing their noses with it.
Q 11A popular myth, undone by the fact that the reflex can be suppressed, says nobody can sneeze with what open?
The eyes
The eyes snap shut because the eyelid muscles contract involuntarily as the air is forced out, but the reflex can be overridden, so the old claim is inaccurate.
Q 12The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, which has upturned nostrils, is said by local people to sneeze in what kind of weather?
Rain
Rain runs straight into its upturned nose, so the monkeys are reported to sit out downpours with their heads tucked between their knees.
Q 13In Japan, China and Korea, a sneeze with no obvious cause is traditionally taken as a sign that someone is doing what?
Talking about you
Q 21Which virus, named from the Greek word for nose, is the leading cause of the sneezes of the common cold?
Rhinovirus
Rhinovirus is the most common viral infectious agent in humans, and it grows best at about 33°C, cooler than the body's core, which is why it settles in the nose and upper airways.
Q 22Pollen from which weed causes about half of all pollen-related allergic rhinitis in North America?
Ragweed
Ragweed is at its most abundant and diverse in North America; pollen was only identified as the cause of this kind of seasonal sneezing in 1859.
Q 23Pollen from which tree, known locally as sugi, is the leading cause of seasonal sneezing in Japan?
Cedar
Cedar pollen from this native species, which is not a true member of the cedar genus at all, affected 38.8% of people in Japan in a 2019 government count.
Talking about you behind your back is the traditional culprit, a belief that appears in China's ancient Book of Songs and is still played out in Japanese manga and anime.
Q 14One folk explanation for blessing a sneezer held that a sneeze briefly expelled what, leaving the body open to demons?
The soul
The soul was thought to slip out for a moment, leaving the sneezer briefly vulnerable to possession; the tale is recorded as folklore and has no basis in how the body works.
Q 15Which English word for dying comes from the Latin for 'breathe out', echoing an old belief tying life to breath?
Expire
Expire comes from the Latin exspirare, to breathe out, and that old link between breath and life is one suggested reason why a sneeze, a great rush of air, came to earn a blessing.
Q 16Which muscle contracts along with the muscles between the ribs to draw in the deep breath before a sneeze?
The diaphragm
The diaphragm and the intercostal muscles fill the lungs first; then the muscles of the chest and abdomen contract powerfully to drive the air out in a single burst.
Q 17The reflex that makes some people sneeze in bright sunlight has been studied as a hazard for people in which job?
Fighter pilots
Fighter pilots could be incapacitated by a sneezing fit in aerial combat, and sunlight reflecting off the sea makes landings on an aircraft carrier a particular worry.
Q 18Snatiation is an inherited tendency to sneeze uncontrollably in response to what?
A full stomach
A full stomach straight after a large meal sets off the sneezing; the name blends sneeze and satiation, and the trait is reported to run in families as a dominant one.
Q 19Tickling which spot with the tip of the tongue is a popular trick for stopping a sneeze before it arrives?
Roof of the mouth
The roof of the mouth is the spot said to do it, whereas holding a sneeze in by pinching the nose is discouraged because of the stress the trapped air puts on the lungs and airways.
Q 20Which chemical, released from mast cells when an allergen strikes, triggers the sneezing and itching of an allergy?
Histamine
Histamine pours out once IgE antibodies latch on to an allergen, which is why the common allergy tablets that block its H1 receptors can calm an itchy, runny, sneezy nose.
Q 24Which cranial nerve, the fifth and the chief sensory nerve of the face, carries the signal that sets off a sneeze?
Trigeminal
Trigeminal fibres relay irritation in the nasal lining to the brainstem, and the same nerve also handles biting and chewing, which makes it the most complex cranial nerve.
Q 25Which lower part of the brain, also the reflex centre for vomiting and swallowing, sends out the commands for a sneeze?
The medulla
The medulla oblongata, a cone-shaped mass of neurons in charge of involuntary functions, sends signals along motor nerves to several muscle groups at once.
Q 26Which word do doctors use as the formal name for a sneeze, the reflex set off by irritation of the nasal lining?
Sternutation
Sternutation is the technical term, from the Latin sternuere, to sneeze; a substance that provokes sneezing is called a sternutator.
Q 27Helenium, a yellow daisy-like flower, is called sneezeweed because its dried leaves were once ground up to make what?
Snuff
Snuff made from the leaves was inhaled to bring on sneezing that would supposedly rid the body of evil spirits; the genus itself is named for Helen of Troy.
Q 28Adamsite, classed among the chemical agents known as sneeze gases, was developed as a weapon during which conflict?
World War I
World War I saw it synthesized in Germany in 1915 and developed independently in 1918 by the American chemist Roger Adams, who gave the agent its name.
Q 29Which pope is said to have told Christians to answer a sneeze with a short prayer during the plague of 590?
Gregory I
Gregory I, known as Gregory the Great, features in the most widely repeated origin story for the English phrase bless you, since a sneeze was viewed as an early symptom.
Q 30Which English philosopher tested the sun-sneeze reflex in the 1600s by facing the sun with his eyelids shut?
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon did not sneeze with his lids closed, which sank the older theory that the sun's warmth on the nose was responsible and suggested that sight plays the vital part.