VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

the devil's advocate

noun·Advancedfigurative

Last updated

UK/ðə ˌdev.əlz ˈæd.və.kət/
US/ðə ˌdev.əlz ˈæd.və.kət/

Meanings

  1. nounsingular

    A person who deliberately argues against a view, even one they hold, in order to test it or provoke discussion.

    Grammar: Usually singular; often used with play or be: play the devil's advocate.

    Patterns

    • play the devil's advocate
    • act as the devil's advocate

    Let me be the devil's advocate for a moment: what if the plan fails?

    She likes to play the devil's advocate at family dinners.

    Our teacher took on the role of the devil's advocate to sharpen the debate.

  2. nounsingularreligion

    Historically, an official of the Catholic Church who argued against declaring someone a saint.

    Grammar: Historical and specialist; the original sense of the phrase.

    Patterns

    • the devil's advocate in a canonization

    The devil's advocate questioned the evidence for the miracles.

    For centuries the devil's advocate was part of the sainthood process.

    Historians describe the devil's advocate as a formal church role.

Common combinations

play the devil's advocate
I'll play the devil's advocate and question the budget.
act as the devil's advocate
He acted as the devil's advocate during the meeting.
role of the devil's advocate
The role of the devil's advocate is to test ideas.
just to be the devil's advocate
Just to be the devil's advocate, can we afford this?

Synonyms and how they differ

contrarian
A contrarian disagrees by habit or personality, while the devil's advocate does it deliberately for the sake of argument.
dissenter
A dissenter sincerely disagrees, unlike the devil's advocate who may not.
critic
A critic judges something openly, whereas the devil's advocate takes the opposing side as a thinking exercise.

Opposites

supporteryes-man

Word family

advocate noun
a person who supports a cause
advocate verb
to recommend publicly
advocacy noun
public support for a cause

Commonly confused: the devil's advocate or devil's advocate?

the devil's advocate vs devil's advocate

Not the same as a bad person; it is a role in debate, not a character judgment.

Practice

I don't really disagree, but let me ____ so we can check our reasoning.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “the devil's advocate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words