What does devils advocate mean?
Definitions for devils advocate
dev·il·s ad·vo·cate
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word devils advocate.
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Wiktionary
devils advocatenoun
One who debates from a view which he may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
devils advocatenoun
A canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate.
Etymology: advocatus diaboli.
Wikipedia
devils advocate
The advocatus diaboli (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization (sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentation of the evidence favoring canonization".In common language, the phrase 'playing devil's advocate' describes a situation where someone, given a certain point of view, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further using valid reasoning that both disagrees with the subject at hand and proves their own point valid. Despite being medieval in origin, this idiomatic expression is one of the most popular present-day English idioms used to express the concept of arguing against something without actually being committed to the contrary view.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of devils advocate in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of devils advocate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Translations for devils advocate
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- פרקליט השטןHebrew
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"devils advocate." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/devils+advocate>.
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