devil's advocate
20
6.3
- noun
- /ˈdɛvəlz ˈædvəˌkeɪt/
:
abogado del diablo
- To reduce groupthink, posting guidelines have required "devil's advocate" posts that challenge or disagree with comments made by other students.
- play devil's advocate
Examples
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Look, I'm sorry, but I have to play devil's advocate here.
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Will you stop playing devil's advocate?
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- Let me walk you through this, okay, playing devil's advocate.
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You want to play devil's advocate.
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I just love playing devil's advocate.
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But, let me play devil's advocate.
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George Ball was not playing devil's advocate.
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Do you always play devil's advocate?
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As much as I enjoy playing devil's advocate for an underdog,
Blog text (21) -
In our discussion about climate change, I decided to play devil's advocate to challenge everyone's views.
Synonyms
4
8.4
A person who often annoys others by pointing out problems or asking hard questions
2
3.9
A person who gives reasons to support their view to persuade others in a discussion
2
9.9
A person who argues strongly in public to support a controversial idea
1
9.9
A person who often argues about public or political issues
1
8.4
A person who argues with others, often in debates or meetings
A person who argues only to win, not to find the truth
A person who says no to an idea or decision
A person who argues strongly in writing about religion or ideas
A person who often argues and challenges other people's ideas
A person who says things that make people angry or start fights
Antonyms
How Oppositional
17
8.2
14
8.8
20
6.3
563
3.0
- Formal
23
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
devil's + advocate
The phrase cannot be reliably derived from its parts: a B1 learner who knows 'devil' (an evil figure) and 'advocate' (a supporter) would likely infer 'a supporter of the devil', which is different from the idiomatic sense of someone who argues an opposing view to test ideas. The idiomatic, historically specific role behind the expression makes the intended meaning non-compositional for learners without prior exposure.
Etymology
The term devil's advocate comes from an old church job where one person was chosen to argue against making someone a saint, acting as the advocate for the devil to test the case. That's why today devil's advocate means someone who takes an opposite view to 'challenge' or 'test' an idea.