Idiom
devil's advocate
Meaning
One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He likes to play devil's advocate during our team meetings.”
“You always act as a devil's advocate when we try to choose a restaurant.”
“My brother plays devil's advocate just to start an argument with me.”
“She played devil's advocate to help the group find potential flaws in the new project plan.”
“I will play devil's advocate for a moment and ask why we should spend money on this marketing campaign if our current sales are already high.”
“The teacher often plays devil's advocate to encourage the students to think more deeply about their own opinions during the debate.”
“Even though I want to buy the house, let me play devil's advocate and list the reasons why moving might be a mistake.”
“Although he personally agreed with the proposal, he played devil's advocate to ensure the committee considered every possible counterargument before making a final decision.”
Examples
simple
“He likes to play devil's advocate during our team meetings.”
“You always act as a devil's advocate when we try to choose a restaurant.”
“My brother plays devil's advocate just to start an argument with me.”
contextual
“She played devil's advocate to help the group find potential flaws in the new project plan.”
“I will play devil's advocate for a moment and ask why we should spend money on this marketing campaign if our current sales are already high.”
“The teacher often plays devil's advocate to encourage the students to think more deeply about their own opinions during the debate.”
“Even though I want to buy the house, let me play devil's advocate and list the reasons why moving might be a mistake.”
complex
“Although he personally agreed with the proposal, he played devil's advocate to ensure the committee considered every possible counterargument before making a final decision.”
Origin
Calque of Latin advocātus diabolī (“the devil’s advocate”), a popular title given to the officer dealing with the canonization process in the 16th c.
Key words
Related idioms
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