Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One who argues against a cause or position, not as a committed opponent but simply for the sake of argument or to determine the validity of the cause or position.
- n. Roman Catholic Church An official appointed to present arguments against a proposed canonization or beatification.
Wiktionary
- n. idiomatic One who debates from a view which he or she may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
- n. Roman Catholic Church A canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who takes the worse side just for the sake of argument
Etymologies
- devil + 's + advocate, a calque of Latin advocātus diabolī ("the devil’s advocate"). (Wiktionary)
- Translation of Medieval Latin advocātus diabolī, one arguing for the devil's plea against canonizing a saint : Latin advocātus, advocate + Late Latin diabolī, genitive of diabolus, devil. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Such habits are not wholly incompatible with wisdom or generosity, and the devil's advocate would not advance them against their possessor's canonization; none the less, in everyday life they make against your enjoying a chat with their possessor:”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘devil's advocate’.
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Old Nick and his personal effects
Words & phrases with "devil" in the name - there's a deuce of a lot
devil's matchstick, devil's dung, devil's club, hickory horned devil, deviled egg, blue devils, printer's devil, devil-fish, devil-cart, devil crab, devil dance, dare-devil and 46 more...
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remnants of a catholic childhood
extreme unction, viaticum, maundy thursday, spy wednesday, good friday, papabile, monstrance, septuagesima, monsignor, thurible, chasuble, alb and 110 more...
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The Medley of Me
A jumble of words, sometimes contradictory, that add up to me. I'll probably be adding to this list for some time, because I'm a very complex individual. ;P
male, long-haired, big-eyed, writer, artist, guitarist, songsmith, talespinner, pilot, wannabe barnstormer, gypsy, cuddlesome and 209 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
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X's Y, where X is not somebody's name
Somebody must already have a list like this. But I'm bored, so I'm going to start my own.
cat's pajamas, bee's knees, mare's nest, lion's share, snowball's chance..., widow's peak, busman's holiday, devil's advocate, greengrocer's apo..., baker's dozen, curate's egg, pope's nose and 224 more...
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Phraseology
vagina dentata, pyrrhic victory, primordial soup, tilting at windmills, indian giver, potemkin village, put the kibosh on, molotov cocktail, penny dreadful, stockholm syndrome, devil's advocate, dog days and 6 more...
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Calques
A compound, derivative, or phrase that is introduced into a language through translation of the constituents of a term in another language (e.g. superman from German Ubermensch).
Provi...brainwashing, antibody, beer garden, thought experiment, flea market, blue blood, new wave, devil's advocate, stormtroopers, high king, backcountry, moment of truth and 5 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for devil's advocate.
whichbe The nickname for the janitor at the ACLU. Dec 1, 2008