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devil's advocate

one who argues an opposing view for the sake of debate

In Idioms & Sayings

In more detail

a person who argues against a proposal or idea, often to test its strength or to explore different viewpoints, even if they don't personally disagree with it

Examples

• Let me play devil's advocate here and question whether this plan will actually work.
• She's willing to act as devil's advocate to help us think through the problems with our project.

Nearby in Idioms & Sayings

by the book, caught red-handed, cross that bridge when you come to it, down to earth, easier said than done, elephant in the room