From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdespitede‧spite /dɪˈspaɪt/ ●●● S3 W1 AWL preposition 1 DESPITEused to say that something happens or is true even though something else might have prevented it SYN in spite of Despite all our efforts to save the school, the authorities decided to close it.despite the fact (that) She went to Spain despite the fact that her doctor had told her to rest.2 → despite yourselfGRAMMAR: Patterns with despite• You say despite doing something: He won despite being injured.• You say despite the fact that: He won despite the fact that he was injured. ✗Don’t say: He won despite he was injured.• Don’t confuse despite and in spite of. ✗Don’t say: despite of
Examples from the Corpus
despite• Despite international pressure, progress has slowed in the peace talks.despite the fact (that)• In fact, despite the fact that Friday was always their busiest day, the girl seemed to be enjoying herself.• She took the opportunity despite the fact that many of her colleagues let her know that they judged her disloyal.• First, how is successful communication possible despite the fact that many utterances produced are incomplete, elliptical or linguistically ill-formed?• The first half looks like an even match, despite the fact that Oregon is not playing well.• Only its formal subdivisions are known, despite the fact that the press was admitted to its open sessions.• A 15,000 crowd created a soccer-style atmosphere despite the fact that the tourists fielded essentially their second team.• The interview had gone well and, despite the fact that there had been three other candidates, the job was hers.Origin despite (1200-1300) Old French despit “spite”, from Latin despectus, from despicere; → DESPISE 