devils advocate
Deliberate argument challenger
A devil's advocate argues a position they don't necessarily hold, typically to test an idea or provoke deeper thinking: Let me play devil's advocate here—what if the whole project is misconceived?
The phrase comes from a Catholic Church role where someone argued against a candidate for sainthood.
Today it's mainly used to announce contrarian questioning without personal commitment to the opposing view.
- contrarianChronic majority-opposer
- argumentReasoned case or dispute
- debateFormal argument on issues
- other sideContrary position or location
- dissentDisagreement with authority
opposition · challenge · skeptic · provocateur · straw man · counterpoint · critique · pushback · questioning · thought experiment · dispute · rhetorical · critical thinking · sparring · disagree · objection · point of order · perspective
- reasoningreasoning, reason, logic, inference, deductive
- Office Typescorner office, executive suite, boardroom, conference room, private office
devils advocateyes-man
Uncritical agreeable subordinate
cheerleader · champion · defender · rubber stamp · echo chamber
devil, advocate, devils, devilish, devilry, advocacy, advocates, advocated, advocating