devil's advocate
One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine…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
2 senses(idiomatic)One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
I don't really believe all that – I was just playing devil's advocate.
des Teufels Advokat, Advocatus Diaboli
адвока́т дья́волаadvokát dʹjávola
адвока́т дия́волаadvokát dyjávola
someone who takes the worse side just for the sake of argument
(historical)A canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate.
des Teufels Advokat, Advocatus Diaboli
адвока́т дья́волаadvokát dʹjávola
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Calque of Latin advocātus diabolī (“the devil’s advocate”), a popular title given to the oCalque of Latin advocātus diabolī (“the devil’s advocate”), a popular title given to the officer dealing with the canonization process in the 16th c.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: devil's advocates| Singular | devil's advocate |
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| Plural | devil's advocates |
regular
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.