Lord of the Flies

American  

noun

1. a novel (1954) by William Golding.

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Lord of the Flies British  

noun

1. a name for Beelzebub

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Lord of the Flies Cultural  

1. (1954) A dark, allegorical novel by the British writer William Golding about a group of boys stranded on a desert island. Despite their attempts to establish a civilized democratic society, the boys eventually revert to totalitarianism and primitive savagery. Golding won the 1983 Nobel Prize for literature.

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Etymology

Origin of Lord of the Flies

translation of Hebrew: see _Beelzebub

Example Sentences

Alfie Kiely from Caldicot, Monmouthshire, spent three months in Malaysia while shooting Lord of the Flies, playing one of the "Littluns".

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

Nobel Prize winner William Golding's Lord of the Flies follows a group of school boys being evacuated from an unnamed war, whose plane crashes on an island with no adults.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026

People sign up for the cards to avoid the Lord of the Flies feeling of clawing through an airport.

From Slate • Jul. 3, 2025

“Even in going into ‘Boys State,’ people said, ‘It’s going to be Lord of the Flies.’

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

She nods at my copy of Lord of the Flies.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon