Despite vs In Spite of | Difference, Meaning, Examples
Despite and in spite of are synonyms. They both function as prepositions that mean “regardless of.”
You can use them to say that an improbable thing actually happened or that a surprising thing is really true.
Despite/in spite of what you may have heard elsewhere, we can confirm that we are going ahead with this project.
How to use despite and in spite of
Despite and in spite of are used at the beginning of prepositional phrases to give information that is unlikely or surprising.
They are used in front of nouns, pronouns and gerunds.
Despite/in spite of what many people think, our organization receives no public funding.
She passed the exam despite/in spite of having missed all the lectures.
In spite of is always written as three separate words.
- It was worth visiting in spite of the high ticket prices.
- It was worth visiting inspite of the high ticket prices.
- She is a professional musician, despite/in spite of the fact that she has no formal training.
- She is a professional musician, despite/in spite of that she has no formal training.
However, you can can use despite/in spite of in front of “that” when it is used as a demonstrative pronoun to refer to previously mentioned information.
- She has no professional training. But despite/in spite of that, she has become an extremely successful musician.
Despite myself or in spite of myself
Doing something despite yourself or in spite of yourself means that you do it without expecting to or wanting to.
You can use despite and in spite of in front of any reflexive pronoun (e.g., “myself,” “himself,” “herself,” etc.) with this meaning.
He was still angry but, despite/in spite of himself, couldn’t help smiling.
Frequently asked questions about despite and in spite of
- What does despite mean?
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The preposition despite is used to mean “notwithstanding,” “regardless of,” or “even though.”
A prepositional phrase beginning with despite introduces contrasting information (e.g., “Despite the sunny weather, we stayed inside all day”).
Despite and in spite of are used interchangeably (e.g., “In spite of the sunny weather …”).
The QuillBot Paraphrasing Tool can help you vary your vocabulary to reflect your intended meaning.
- What does in spite of mean?
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In spite of is a preposition that means “regardless of,” “even though,” or “notwithstanding.”
It introduces a prepositional phrase providing some contrasting information (e.g., “In spite of his lateness, Jimmy strolled into class as if nothing were wrong”).
In spite of and despite can be used interchangeably (e.g., “Despite his lateness …”).
The QuillBot Paraphrasing Tool can help you vary your vocabulary to reflect your intended meaning.
