An advocate is a supporter of an idea or someone who speaks up for other people's interests: an advocate of online learning. As a verb, it means to publicly support something: advocate a four-day week. The sense of a lawyer in court exists too, but it's a narrow legal term: for example, it's the title of certain lawyers in Scotland. In everyday English, the word is lawyer.
advocate: will you get the meaning right?
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an advocate of/for + idea/group; a strong/passionate advocate of + noun; advocate + noun/-ing (verb); play devil's advocate
- My manager is a strong advocate of flexible working hours for parents.
- After her son lost his hearing, she became an advocate for deaf children at local schools.
- Many doctors advocate walking for at least thirty minutes a day.
What changed
First versionIf the police arrest you, call your advocate before you answer any questions.
RevisionIf the police arrest you, call your lawyer before you answer any questions.
In many languages, the everyday word for a lawyer looks like advocate, so call your advocate seems natural. But in everyday English the word describes a supporter of an idea, not someone who defends you in court. The person who helps you with the law is a lawyer, or in the US also an attorney.
Play devil's advocate means to argue for the opposite side on purpose, to test an idea: Let me play devil's advocate: what if nobody buys it? Note the verb: in English you play devil's advocate, as a role you take on for the moment.
Your turn
I signed the rental contract only after my ___ had checked every page.
Show the answer
lawyer — Before you sign a contract, a lawyer checks it. In everyday English an advocate is a supporter of an idea, so my advocate had checked every page sounds wrong.
Write about someone who actively supports an idea. Name the idea and say what they do to promote it.
My aunt is a strong advocate of cycling to work, so she runs free bike repair classes for her neighbours.
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