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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

despite.

In spite of, notwithstanding.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

prep/dɪˈspaɪt/UK
  1. In spite of, notwithstanding.

    Despite being a near-mirror image my of right, my left hand is terrible at these stuff.
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). The preposition is derived from Middle English dispit, itself derived from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of). Compare typologically Russian несмотря́ на (nesmotrjá na) (< смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)); невзира́я на (nevzirája na) (< взира́ть (vzirátʹ)), презре́в (prezrév) (< презре́ть (prezrétʹ) <~ зреть (zretʹ)) (compare despite—despise relation).

noun/dɪˈspaɪt/UK
  1. Disdain, contemptuous feelings, hatred.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  2. Action or behaviour displaying such feelings; an outrage, insult.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  3. Evil feeling; malice, spite, annoyance.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

The noun is derived from Middle English despit, dispit, from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). The preposition is derived from Middle English dispit, itself derived from the phrase in dispit of (in despite of). Compare typologically Russian несмотря́ на (nesmotrjá na) (< смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)); невзира́я на (nevzirája na) (< взира́ть (vzirátʹ)), презре́в (prezrév) (< презре́ть (prezrétʹ) <~ зреть (zretʹ)) (compare despite—despise relation).

verb/dɪˈspaɪt/UK
  1. To vex; to annoy; to offend contemptuously.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

From Middle English despite, dispite, dyspite, dyspyte, from Old French despitier.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.