Devil's advocate

How it is used

Usually occurs in play devil's advocate during discussions. Make the testing purpose clear; otherwise colleagues may assume the objection reflects your own position.

Example sentences

1. Let me play devil's advocate: how would this plan work if our largest client left?

   The hypothetical loss tests the plan's resilience without claiming that the client will leave.

2. We asked Deniz to act as devil's advocate and challenge our assumptions about demand.

   Deniz has an assigned testing role, so disagreement should not be read as personal hostility.

Common collocations

• play devil's advocate
• act as devil's advocate

Related terms

• brainstormTo meet as a group and suggest many ideas quickly, without judging them at first, in order to solve a problem or plan something.
• proposalA formal plan or offer, written or spoken, that is put forward for others such as a client or management to consider and accept.

More terms: Meetings

• agenda
• minutes
• action item
• wrap up
• recap
• one-on-one
• go over
• attendee
• chair
• kick-off meeting
• sync
• consensus