Definitions for despite
dɪˈspaɪtde·spite

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.3 / 3 votes

1. contempt, disdain, scorn, despitenoun

   lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike

   "he was held in contempt"; "the despite in which outsiders were held is legendary"

2. despitenoun

   contemptuous disregard

   "she wanted neither favor nor despite"

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 4 votes

1. despitenoun

   Disdain, contemptuous feelings, hatred.

2. despitenoun

   Action or behaviour displaying such feelings; an outrage, insult.

3. despitenoun

   Evil feeling; malice, spite.

4. despitepreposition

   in spite of

5. Etymology: From despit, from despectum, from despicere.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. DESPITEnoun

   Etymology: spijt, Dutch; dépit, French.

   1. Malice; anger; malignity; maliciousness; spleen; hatred.

   Thou wretch! despite o’erwhelm thee! William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   With men these considerations are usually the causes of despite, disdain, or aversion from others; but with God they pass for reasons of our greater tenderness towards others. Thomas Sprat.

   2. Defiance.

   The life, thou gav’st me first, was lost and done;
   ’Till with thy warlike sword, despite of fate,
   To my determin’d time thou gav’st new date. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

   My life thou shalt command, but not my shame;
   The one my duty owes; but my fair name,
   Despite of death, that lives upon my grave,
   To dark dishonour’s use thou shalt not have. William Shakespeare, Rich. II.

   Know I will serve the fair in thy despite. John Dryden, Fab.

   I have not quitted yet a victor’s right;
   I’ll make you happy in your own despite. John Dryden, Aurengzebe.

   Say, would the tender creature, in despite
   Of heat by day, and chilling dews by night,
   Its life maintain? Richard Blackmore, Creation.

   Thou, with rebel insolence, did’st dare
   To own and to protect that hoary ruffian;
   And in despite, ev’n of thy father’s justice,
   To stir the factious rabble up to arms. Nicholas Rowe, Amb. S. Moth.

   3. Act of malice; act of opposition.

   His punishment, eternal misery,
   It would be all his solace and revenge,
   As a despite done against the most High,
   Thee once to gain companion of his woe. John Milton, Par. Lost.

2. To Despiteverb

   To vex; to affront; to give uneasiness to.

   Etymology: from the noun.

   Saturn, with his wife Rhea, fled by night, setting the town on fire, to despite Bacchus. Walter Raleigh, History.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. despite

   Despite is a preposition used to indicate the occurrence of an action or event even though something might have hindered or prevented it. It generally signifies a contrast or contradiction, essentially meaning "in spite of" or "regardless of".

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. Despitenoun

   malice; malignity; spite; malicious anger; contemptuous hate

2. Despitenoun

   an act of malice, hatred, or defiance; contemptuous defiance; a deed of contempt

3. Despitenoun

   to vex; to annoy; to offend contemptuously

4. Despite

   in spite of; against, or in defiance of; notwithstanding; as, despite his prejudices

5. Etymology: [OF. despitier, fr. L. despectare, intens. of despicere. See Despite, n.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Despite

   de-spīt′, n. a looking down upon with contempt: violent malice or hatred.—prep. in spite of: notwithstanding.—adj. Despite′ful.—adv. Despite′fully.—n. Despite′fulness.—adj. Despit′eous (Spens.). [O. Fr. despit (mod. dépit)—L. despectus—despicĕre.]

Matched Categories

1. • Dislike
   • Disregard

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'despite' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #625

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'despite' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2698

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. [["1515","21"],["1520","1"],["1524","1"],["1563","3"],["1564","6"],["1568","1"],["1575","1"],["1579","3"],["1581","2"],["1582","9"],["1584","2"],["1587","4"],["1588","1"],["1590","32"],["1592","2"],["1600","12"],["1606","3"],["1607","11"],["1619","1"],["1621","2"],["1624","4"],["1634","3"],["1635","9"],["1637","12"],["1643","1"],["1644","4"],["1647","14"],["1650","1"],["1652","3"],["1656","2"],["1657","2"],["1659","19"],["1660","1"],["1662","2"],["1663","2"],["1668","2"],["1670","3"],["1672","1"],["1673","11"],["1675","8"],["1676","1"],["1677","1"],["1678","4"],["1679","1"],["1680","46"],["1681","8"],["1682","4"],["1683","7"],["1684","37"],["1685","17"],["1686","6"],["1688","1"],["1689","5"],["1690","3"],["1691","1"],["1692","4"],["1693","6"],["1694","4"],["1695","3"],["1696","2"],["1698","6"],["1699","4"],["1700","10"],["1701","2"],["1702","10"],["1703","19"],["1704","17"],["1705","7"],["1706","8"],["1707","14"],["1708","12"],["1709","3"],["1710","6"],["1711","2"],["1712","16"],["1713","16"],["1714","10"],["1715","7"],["1716","14"],["1717","46"],["1718","14"],["1719","2"],["1720","36"],["1721","11"],["1722","42"],["1723","3"],["1724","18"],["1725","7"],["1726","4"],["1727","5"],["1728","4"],["1729","47"],["1730","12"],["1731","16"],["1732","8"],["1733","1"],["1734","6"],["1735","16"],["1736","10"],["1737","29"],["1738","28"],["1739","7"],["1740","7"],["1741","6"],["1742","25"],["1743","2"],["1744","25"],["1745","2"],["1746","4"],["1747","16"],["1748","17"],["1749","32"],["1750","21"],["1751","23"],["1752","13"],["1753","12"],["1754","35"],["1755","26"],["1756","4"],["1757","31"],["1758","10"],["1759","54"],["1760","15"],["1761","96"],["1762","33"],["1763","76"],["1764","31"],["1765","18"],["1766","26"],["1767","22"],["1768","36"],["1769","21"],["1770","24"],["1771","8"],["1772","19"],["1773","61"],["1774","46"],["1775","33"],["1776","19"],["1777","74"],["1778","28"],["1779","22"],["1780","35"],["1781","18"],["1782","46"],["1783","47"],["1784","45"],["1785","41"],["1786","40"],["1787","27"],["1788","73"],["1789","55"],["1790","33"],["1791","92"],["1792","64"],["1793","80"],["1794","60"],["1795","147"],["1796","193"],["1797","98"],["1798","92"],["1799","62"],["1800","195"],["1801","299"],["1802","131"],["1803","215"],["1804","214"],["1805","239"],["1806","214"],["1807","236"],["1808","384"],["1809","291"],["1810","366"],["1811","475"],["1812","255"],["1813","265"],["1814","498"],["1815","362"],["1816","517"],["1817","502"],["1818","448"],["1819","423"],["1820","782"],["1821","543"],["1822","1095"],["1823","631"],["1824","946"],["1825","1073"],["1826","956"],["1827","1040"],["1828","1155"],["1829","1235"],["1830","1312"],["1831","1321"],["1832","1393"],["1833","1365"],["1834","1319"],["1835","1510"],["1836","1509"],["1837","1521"],["1838","1562"],["1839","2403"],["1840","2294"],["1841","1752"],["1842","1690"],["1843","1794"],["1844","1888"],["1845","2155"],["1846","2881"],["1847","3063"],["1848","2687"],["1849","2667"],["1850","3428"],["1851","2496"],["1852","3433"],["1853","4028"],["1854","3964"],["1855","3762"],["1856","4372"],["1857","3967"],["1858","3726"],["1859","3679"],["1860","4227"],["1861","3263"],["1862","2720"],["1863","3400"],["1864","3486"],["1865","3895"],["1866","4841"],["1867","3679"],["1868","4123"],["1869","3614"],["1870","3425"],["1871","3282"],["1872","3445"],["1873","3461"],["1874","3984"],["1875","4317"],["1876","4321"],["1877","4236"],["1878","4131"],["1879","4272"],["1880","5650"],["1881","5605"],["1882","6304"],["1883","6653"],["1884","6389"],["1885","6063"],["1886","5939"],["1887","7033"],["1888","6541"],["1889","6752"],["1890","7719"],["1891","6787"],["1892","9237"],["1893","8988"],["1894","8628"],["1895","9897"],["1896","10065"],["1897","10718"],["1898","13032"],["1899","14697"],["1900","16659"],["1901","14960"],["1902","16013"],["1903","14830"],["1904","17827"],["1905","16700"],["1906","16502"],["1907","17197"],["1908","18151"],["1909","15108"],["1910","18467"],["1911","17029"],["1912","19024"],["1913","18339"],["1914","17614"],["1915","17520"],["1916","17594"],["1917","18614"],["1918","19846"],["1919","20598"],["1920","24320"],["1921","19589"],["1922","23014"],["1923","20211"],["1924","20139"],["1925","19430"],["1926","18467"],["1927","24166"],["1928","23228"],["1929","23745"],["1930","25499"],["1931","27804"],["1932","23963"],["1933","22265"],["1934","25676"],["1935","30906"],["1936","30475"],["1937","32055"],["1938","32881"],["1939","36022"],["1940","33297"],["1941","32324"],["1942","28999"],["1943","28351"],["1944","26878"],["1945","28914"],["1946","36355"],["1947","42829"],["1948","46575"],["1949","50871"],["1950","50125"],["1951","50083"],["1952","52619"],["1953","50375"],["1954","56916"],["1955","60221"],["1956","62421"],["1957","69111"],["1958","73528"],["1959","74728"],["1960","88207"],["1961","94270"],["1962","107695"],["1963","117843"],["1964","120730"],["1965","136201"],["1966","144569"],["1967","153823"],["1968","173531"],["1969","167104"],["1970","179748"],["1971","183773"],["1972","189181"],["1973","187185"],["1974","188465"],["1975","188893"],["1976","195261"],["1977","201591"],["1978","205536"],["1979","218129"],["1980","224079"],["1981","223076"],["1982","239632"],["1983","246910"],["1984","261815"],["1985","274400"],["1986","292959"],["1987","298343"],["1988","314196"],["1989","334797"],["1990","359084"],["1991","352588"],["1992","381999"],["1993","388216"],["1994","421956"],["1995","429491"],["1996","458810"],["1997","471783"],["1998","501333"],["1999","527653"],["2000","604412"],["2001","596636"],["2002","662893"],["2003","697591"],["2004","746001"],["2005","750818"],["2006","785097"],["2007","825237"],["2008","789607"]]

Anagrams for despite »

1. seed pit

How to pronounce despite?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say despite in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of despite in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of despite in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of despite in a Sentence

1. John Katko:

   This administration has even gone on to brazenly claim that the border is ‘ secure ’ and the border is ‘ closed, ’ despite astounding evidence to prove otherwise, it should come as no surprise that this administration has not prioritized providing the right resources and policies for CBP to effectively do their jobs.

2. Croc Encounters:

   We had an emergency alligator call this morning for this 8 foot 9 in gator, the residents said they found the alligator early this morning and despite their efforts to get him to move he refused to leave. He was not too happy to be evicted from his comfortable, shady spot as he smashed everything in sight upon exiting.

3. Tokyo Olympics champion Xander Schauffele:

   It wasn’t quite the same experience, didn’t play as well, but I enjoyed being here despite the lockdown and COVID rules, i saw some of my family here, which was really cool. I don’t get a big opportunity to see them, so that was kind of the shining moment for me.

4. The Buffalo-area congressman:

   Despite this backlash, I truly believe I could win this election, but it would be an incredibly divisive election for both the Republican Party and for the people of the 23rd District, many of whom I have not ever represented, the last thing we need is an incredibly negative, half-truth filled media attack funded by millions of dollars of special interest money coming into our community around this issue of guns and violence and gun control.

5. Richard Barrett:

   Despite sustained international effort to contain the Islamic State and stem the flow of militants traveling to Syria, the number of foreign fighters has more than doubled.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=despite
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Despite
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=despite
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/despite
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=despite
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=despite