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devil's advocate

A canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate.

Etymology:

  • From devil's advocate, a calque of Latin advocātus diabolī.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'devil's advocate':

devil's advocateOne who debates from a view which they may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity, or simply for the sake of argument.
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to devil's advocate

devil lies in the detailsdevil take the hindmostidle hands are the Devil's workshopBetween the Devil and the Deep Blue Seabetter the devil you know than the devi…better the devil you know than the devi…better the devil you know than the one …folk devilcaught between the devil and the deep b…speak of the devilbetter the devil you know than the one …idle hands are the devil's playthingsidle hands are the devil's toolsdevil's shoulders

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