verb phrase🎓 English idiom

play devil's advocate

to argue an opposing view for the sake of debate

What it means

To argue against a position you may not actually hold, in order to test its strength or provoke fuller discussion. It is a way of exploring weaknesses in an idea rather than expressing genuine disagreement.

Examples

  • Let me play devil's advocate for a moment and ask why this plan might fail.
  • Just to play devil's advocate, what if customers don't want the new feature?
  • He often plays devil's advocate in meetings to make the team think harder.
  • I'm only playing devil's advocate here; personally, I quite like your proposal.

Where it comes from

From the Latin advocatus diaboli, a former official role in the Catholic Church appointed to argue against a candidate's canonisation as a saint.

Related idioms

#on the fence#see eye to eye#it takes two to tango#clear the air

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