Definition of "despite"
despite
preposition
Quotations
The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess
Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives. To examine this manifestation of religious fandom, I will first discuss the canon scepticism and anti-Rowling sentiment that helps to contextualise the wider belief in Snape as a character who extends beyond book and film.
2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5, number 1, MDPI, pages 219–257
noun
countable and uncountable, plural despites
(obsolete) Disdain, contemptuous feelings, hatred.
Quotations
Thou waſt euer an obſtinate heretique in the deſpight of Beautie.
1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]
(archaic) Action or behaviour displaying such feelings; an outrage, insult.
Quotations
he aſked kynge Arthur yf he wold gyue hym leue to ryde after Balen and to reuenge the deſpyte that he had done Doo your beſt ſaid Arthur I am right wroth ſaid Balen I wold he were quyte of the deſpyte that he hath done to me and to my Courte(please add an English translation of this quotation)
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “iiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book II
Evil feeling; malice, spite, annoyance.
Quotations
How often am I obliged to speak mal à propos, because my features are not sufficiently charming in a state of repose!—how often is my ingenuity racked to find a word, when a look would have been far better! I am compelled to be amusing, in my own despite.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 3
verb
third-person singular simple present despites, present participle despiting, simple past and past participle despited