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Lord of the Flies

American  

noun

  1. a novel (1954) by William Golding.


Lord of the Flies British  

noun

  1. a name for Beelzebub

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.


Etymology

Origin of Lord of the Flies

translation of Hebrew: see Beelzebub

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He hopes that Lord of the Flies offers the same experience and helps young people watching navigate their way through "the most difficult period of life".

From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026

You can watch Lord of the Flies at 21:00 GMT on BBC One on Sunday 8 February or on iPlayer the same day.

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

Fascinated by the themes in "Lord of the Flies" and "Yellowjackets," they jump out at me in other things I watch and read.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2025

He pronounced that we'd understood Lord of the Flies perfectly.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

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