Idiom

Play devils advocate

What does "Play devils advocate" mean?

A person who takes a contrary position from the one being presented, either for the sake of argument or to test the validity of the opposing point of view.

Play Devil’s advocate

Britain, 18th century.

A person who takes a contrary position from the one being presented, either for the sake of argument or to test the validity of the opposing point of view.

Worldwide.

  • I didn't really disagree with what he was saying but I decided to play devil's advocate just to get him to try to make a better case for it.