play devil's advocate

Meaning

This expression means to argue against an idea or plan, even if you actually agree with it, in order to test its strength or provoke deeper discussion. It is commonly used in business meetings to ensure all potential risks are considered before making a final decision. The tone is neutral and constructive, signaling that the speaker is exploring possibilities rather than being genuinely difficult.

Examples

• Let me play devil's advocate for a second: what if the competitor lowers their prices?

  Let me play devil's advocate for a second: what if the competitor lowers their prices?

• She decided to play devil's advocate during the brainstorming session to see if our strategy was solid.

  She decided to play devil's advocate during the brainstorming session to see if our strategy was solid.

• I agree with your proposal, but I'm going to play devil's advocate to help us prepare for the board's questions.

  I agree with your proposal, but I'm going to play devil's advocate to help us prepare for the board's questions.

• Instead of just agreeing, someone needs to play devil's advocate so we don't miss any blind spots.

  Instead of just agreeing, someone needs to play devil's advocate so we don't miss any blind spots.

• He often plays devil's advocate in meetings, which helps the team identify potential flaws in our software.

  He often plays devil's advocate in meetings, which helps the team identify potential flaws in our software.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I want to play the devil advocate.

  ✓ I want to play devil's advocate.

  The idiom is fixed without the definite article 'the' before 'devil' and requires the possessive ''s' on 'devil'.

• ✗ She played devil's advocate to hurt my feelings.

  ✓ She played devil's advocate to test my argument.

  This phrase is used for testing ideas and constructive debate, not for personal attacks or malicious arguing.

Related Expressions

Practice

• I'll ___ for a moment: what happens if our main supplier goes out of business?

  💡 Argue the opposing side to test the plan.

  Show answer

  play devil's advocate

• It's always healthy to have someone ___ during product development to find potential issues.

  💡 Act as the challenger for constructive purposes.

  Show answer

  play devil's advocate