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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

better the devil you know than the devi…better the devil you know than the one …devil take the hindmostdevil's luckdevil lies in the detailsidle hands are the Devil's playthingsbetter the devil you knowBetween the Devil and the Deep Blue Seaidle hands are the devil's workshoplucky devila devil-may-care attitudedevil beating his wifeidle hands are the Devil's workshopspeak of the devil and he appears

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