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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

idle hands are the Devil's playthingsidle hands are the devil's playthingsa devil-may-care attitudebetter the devil you know than the one …idle hands are the devil's workshopcaught between the devil and the deep b…devil take the hindmostdevil beating his wifelucky devildevil's luckbetter the devil you know than the devi…angel's advocatedevil is in the detailsbetter the devil you know

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