Term for attempting to appear intelligent or refined by taking unpopular opinion

Is there a word or concise term for attempting to appear intelligent or refined by taking an unpopular opinion? I'm not sure how to best describe this concept. The best term I can think of at the moment is to be contrarian, but it doesn't seem completely satisfying.

Solution 1:

Besides contrarian:

devil's advocate The Free Dictionary:

One who argues against a cause or position, not as a committed opponent but simply for the sake of argument or to determine the validity of the cause or position.

(Other verifying sources: Merriam-Webster & Dictionary.com)

(slightly off-question suggestion)

eristic Wikipedia:

often refers to a type of argument where the participants fight and quarrel without any reasonable goal. The aim usually is to win the argument and/or to engage into a conflict for the sole purpose of wasting time through arguments, not to potentially discover a true or probable answer to any specific question or topic. Eristic is arguing for the sake of conflict as opposed to the seeking of conflict resolution.

(Other verifying sources: The Free Dictionary, Merriam-Webster & Dictionary.com)

Solution 2:

Here are some jokey answers:

• being a hipster
• being in favour of something before it went (or was) mainstream (< web meme)
• "There's not a bandwagon that John won't jump off of."

Well, that last one's my own invention, but it's never caught on.

None of these address the question of appearing intelligent, however. A phrase that suggests self-exclusion if not contrarianism, and for the purpose of appearing superior if not specifically more intelligent, is

• being a tall poppy

I gather it's a more or less recognizable idiomatic expression outside the US but is especially popular in Australia. Note that although the Wikipedia link suggests the user of the phrase "tall poppy" suggests resentment, I've always taken it to be used as an insult against a (would-be) elite. There is probably some migration from an egalitarian to a meritocratic worldview involved here.