Devil’s advocate is an idiom that refers to someone who argues a contrary view, either for the sake of argument or to help test out how rigorous a position is. For example, a team of lawyers might get one of their number to play devil’s advocate and attack the team’s legal position to see how strong it is.
The idea of a devil’s advocate dates back to the late 16th century in the Roman Catholic Church. During the process of canonization (i.e., proclaiming someone to be a “saint”), an advocatus diaboli (devil’s advocate) was appointed to argue against the canonization in order to test and challenge the evidence supporting sainthood.
Examples: Devil’s advocate in a sentence
As the argument grew more heated, Melanie recognized what was happening; Nigel was up to his old tricks again, playing devil’s advocate just for the fun of the argument.
Adele was given the task of playing devil’s advocate as the prosecution team did a final check on their case.
Some psychologists suggest that a devil’s advocate is not an effective tool for testing a position because they are not expressing genuinely held views.
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Using devil’s advocate
Probably because whoever is devil’s advocate is not arguing a position they believe, the idiom almost always uses the verb “play” (e.g., “She was playing devil’s advocate”).
It is also not uncommon for there to be a negative connotation. It is more likely that someone will play devil’s advocate for the sake of causing an argument or to wind other people up (i.e., provoke them) than as a tactic approved of by everyone.
Examples: Devil’s advocate in a sentence
Joe loved an argument so much that he would play devil’s advocate all the time, much to everyone’s annoyance.
Although she didn’t do it often, Sue sometimes got one of the interns to test her arguments by playing devil’s advocate for her.
A devil’s advocate can help you to see the weaknesses in your own position and work out attack lines for the opposition point of view.
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