Phrase info Synonyms

devil's advocate

Speech parts

1. devil's advocate - Noun

2. devil's advocate - Phrase

Meaning

someone who takes the worse side just for the sake of argument

Source: WordNet

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Examples

John Kerry doesn't think in terms of black-and-white. He's all gray, and he looks at all sides of the issues. That makes people think he likes to be devil's advocate. Whatever you say, he'll challenge you on. Douglas Brinkley

I hope you're representing the devil's advocate. Charles Olson

People have confused playing devil's advocate with being intelligent. Cecily Strong

Among the keynote participants is bestselling writer Jonathan Maberry (X-Files Origins: Devil's Advocate), who spoke by phone from his California home about working as a writer during this unique time. Source: Internet

Haha, I'm guessing Dubner totally agreed with Bernanke but it was nice he tried to play the devil's advocate for once. Source: Internet

To play devil's advocate, some PhD programs might not have a waitlist because they mentally eliminate candidates and don't always need to meet a quota. Source: Internet

Words in the phrase

Close letter words and terms