Level B1 (Lower Intermediate)
Published January 14, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
The French Word of the Day is en dépit de, a preposition meaning “despite” or “in spite of.” It is a close synonym of malgré, but is slightly more formal.
📘 En dépit de meaning in French
En dépit de is a French preposition meaning “despite” or “in spite of” and is used to show contrast when something happens despite a difficulty or obstacle. It often sounds slightly stronger or more deliberate than its close synonym malgré and is followed by a noun or pronoun, not a verb. For example, “En dépit du mauvais temps, nous sommes partis” (Despite the bad weather, we left).
🎧 En dépit de pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of en dépit de is /ɑ̃ de.pi də/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “ahn day-pee duh.”
📝 En dépit de usage examples
Je continue à travailler en dépit de la fatigue.
I keep working despite the fatigue.
Elle a réussi son examen en dépit de son manque de préparation.
She passed her exam despite her lack of preparation.
Il reste très optimiste en dépit de ses nombreux problèmes.
He remains very optimistic despite his many problems.
👉 See also: Rester conjugation charts (to stay, to remain) »
En dépit de son âge, il reste très actif.
Despite his age, he remains very active.
The preposition malgré also means despite but is less formal.
👉 See also: malgré — usage examples with audio »
❓ Want to feel more confident in French?
🎯 À Moi Paris — This is my top recommendation for online French courses, and it pairs wonderfully with my daily lessons. Camille Chevalier teaches with engaging audio stories that she records at three speeds. Her specialty is helping students with pronunciation and bridging the gap between textbook French and real spoken French as you hear it on the streets of Paris.
👉 Explore À Moi Paris »
👉 Read my review »
🎧 French Verb Drills — Having trouble with French verb conjugations? Camille’s audio drills break everything down step by step so you can finally lock in the patterns and speak with confidence.
If you purchase the courses, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
🔗 Related words and expressions
- malgré — despite
- à cause de — because of (negative cause)
- grâce à — thanks to (positive cause)
- bien que — although (followed by the subjunctive)
- même si — even if
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 malgré — despite in French »
👉 à cause de vs grâce à »
👉 bien que — even though, although »
🚀 Continue learning French online on FrenchLearner!
👉 French Word of the Day »
👉 French Vocabulary lists »
👉 French for beginners guide »
👉 French song lyrics hub »
❓ En dépit de — Common Questions
What does en dépit de mean in French?
It means “despite” or “in spite of” and is used to express contrast. For example, “En dépit du mauvais temps, nous sommes partis” (Despite the bad weather, we left).
Is en dépit de formal?
Yes. It is slightly more formal than malgré, which also means despite, but still very common.
What comes after en dépit de?
A noun or noun phrase. It is not followed by a verb.
Can I replace en dépit de with malgré?
Yes. In most cases, the meaning stays the same.
