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A golem (/ˈɡoʊləm/ GOH-ləm; Hebrew: ‎גּוֹלֶם, romanized: gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague. According to Moment magazine, "the golem is a highly mutable metaphor with seemingly limitless symbolism. It can be a victim or villain, man or woman—or sometimes both. Over the centuries, it has been used to connote war, community, isolation, hope, and despair."

In modern popular culture, the word became generalized, and any crude anthropomorphic creature devised by a sorcerer may be named "golem". There may be iron golems, such as Iron Invader or stone golems, e.g., in Blood & Magic.

The word golem occurs once in the Bible, in Psalm 139:16, which uses the word גלמי (golmi; 'my golem', 'my light form', 'raw material') to connote the unfinished human being before God's eyes. The Mishnah uses the term to refer to someone who is unsophisticated: "Seven characteristics are in an uncultivated person, and seven in a learned one" (שבעה דברים בגולם).

In Modern Hebrew, golem is used to mean 'dumb', 'helpless', or 'pupa'. Similarly, it is often used today as a metaphor for a mindless lunk or other entity that serves a man under controlled conditions, but is hostile to him in other circumstances. Golem passed into Yiddish as goylem, meaning someone who is lethargic or in a stupor.