Lord of the Flies

American

noun

a novel (1954) by William Golding.

Lord of the Flies British

noun

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

(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.

All episodes of Lord of the Flies are available now on BBC iPlayer, and the series continues on Sunday at 21:00 on BBC One.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

The boys, then aged between five and 12, spent several months away from home shooting Lord of the Flies, which has been adapted for TV for the first time.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

She has them read books such as The Crucible and the Lord of the Flies to teach about the dangers of mass hysteria and group vilification.

From Slate • Dec. 5, 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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023