Despite - In spite of

Despite & In spite of are the two words that are very similar in meaning. People may think that this is a homonym and have different meanings. If you also think this way, you are wrong!!

Let us see the usage of these two words and are they synonyms or antonyms.

Despite
Despite means "even though," or "regardless of." It's the opposite of "because of/due to," and can be used with a noun or gerund.

For e.g.

#ABC had difficulty communicating in Marathi despite all her years of study.
# The criminal won the elections, despite (make sure you are not using despite of here) the fact that he was in the wanted list of FBI.

Note: Many times people try interchanging in spite of with instead of. Make sure after youy read this post, you are not one among. Both words are world apart in their meaing.

In spite of
In spite of means exactly the same thing and is used exactly the same way as "despite."

For e.g.

#Despite he was a topper, he had difficulty communicating in French in spite of all her years of study.
#The criminal won the elections, in spite of the fact that he was in the wanted list of FBI.
#In spite of not having a journey pass, I travelled home in the train.

The Bottom Line
The English terms despite and in spite of are synonyms. Despite might be a bit more formal way of conversing, but the two terms are interchangeable. Just be careful not to say something like "despite of" or "in despite" - it's always either the three words in spite of, or just the single word despite.

Ameya