Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- prep. In spite of: The teams played on, notwithstanding the rain.
- adv. All the same; nevertheless: We proceeded, notwithstanding.
- conj. In spite of the fact that; although.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Not opposing; not standing in the way or contradicting; not availing to the contrary.
- With following noun, or clause with that: In spite of, or in spite of the fact that; although.
- Synonyms Notwithstanding, In spite of, Despite, for all. Notwithstanding is the least emphatic; it calls attention with some emphasis to an obstacle: as, notwithstanding his youth, he made great progress. In spite of and despite, by the strength of the word spite, point primarily to active opposition: as, in spite of his utmost efforts, he was defeated; and, figuratively, to great obstacles of any kind: as, despite all hindrances, he arrived at the time appointed. Despite is rather loftier and more poetic than the others.
- Followed by a clause with that omitted: In spite of the fact that; although.
- Synonyms Although, Though, etc. See although.
- Nevertheless; however; yet.
Wiktionary
- adv. Nevertheless, all the same.
- conj. Although.
- prep. In spite of, despite.
GNU Webster's 1913
- prep. Without prevention, or obstruction from or by; in spite of.
- Nevertheless; however; although.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. despite anything to the contrary (usually following a concession)
Etymologies
- Middle English notwithstandinge (translation of Medieval Latin nōn obstante) : not, not; see not + withstanding, present participle of withstanden, to resist; see withstand.
Examples
“In fact, the title notwithstanding, it's one of the most remarkably faithful sequels you'll ever see, in tone, setup, and execution.”
Alex Remington: Harold & Kumar 2: Best War on Terror Movie Ever (Though That's Not Saying Much)
“But the title notwithstanding, the main purpose of the event appeared to be for the sponsoring organizations to congratulate themselves on their ostensible championing of Ramadan's free speech rights in the face of his "ideological exclusion" from the United States by the Bush administration.”
“The "devils" in the title notwithstanding, one of this book's strengths is to put a human face on institutions that have been demonized -- even as it raises questions about their dealings.”
“I want to make clear before you read this that the title notwithstanding, I miss New York City and particularly my Greenwich Village neighborhood around Bedford Street every day.”
“Message to the new president: Negative implications of the term notwithstanding,”
“Much of this appears to be little more than posturing for the cameras, recognizing that bad behavior in this context (the title notwithstanding) is rewarded with increased airtime.”
“The title notwithstanding, Catlin's version actually centers on Icarus's father, the legendary architect and inventor Daedalus.”
“Spelling errors in the title notwithstanding (they seem confused about their plural and singular references), it was a good effort by a group young idealist who are part of the Bureau of Education and Knowledge Society of Gerakan.”
“- The title notwithstanding, this book also covers the history and techical details, and has numerous appendixes”
“Thus, members of this list should be alert to the fact that the title notwithstanding, this book focuses heavily and disproportionately on the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘notwithstanding’.
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Academic Vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3092 more...
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Adverbia
A long list of adverbs, beginning with full-drive. Someone has to list them.
Read some sniping and some informative commentary about adverbs here.
Reesetee's list Conjunctive Adv...full-drive, portentously, unlawfully, legally, heterogeneously, consumingly, clancularly, inconsolably, prepositionally, retrogressively, symptomatically, decrepitly and 2243 more...
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Many Stands
grandstand, Custer's last stand, bandstand, witness stand, upstand, bedstand, Rostand, handstand, hardstand, headstand, newsstand, stillstand and 94 more...
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Conjunctivitis
Unholy adverbose conjunction trinities. Yes, this list is ridiculous.
whomsoever, whilstsomewise, whichsoever, whichwherewise, whereoflike, whereinsoever, whereforemore, wherehapssuch, whereinas, whereasupon, whenwhereof, whencesoever and 87 more...
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♚ Magic King ♚
Including, but not limited to royalty.
hitherto, whereby, foreknowing, transcendence, notwithstanding, wherewith, forevermore, unrehearsed, sesquicentennial, unitarianism, wherein, folklore and 3 more...
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Words That Are Fun to Say.
error, acetylsalicylic acid, hemidemisemiquaver, misanthropic, cantankerous, thou, prolixity, wherefore, lozenge, fisticuffs, comparatively, strumpet and 2 more...
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Three is Compoundy.
Words that are made up of three words, be it intended for the meaning, or coincidentally (as in "attendance").
nonetheless, together, insofar, nevertheless, attendance, notwithstanding, hitherto, heretofore, whosoever, inasmuch, benjamin, psychotherapist and 40 more...
qroqqa An unusual preposition in that its complement can either precede it or follow it, without any significant distinction in meaning or grammar: 'your objections notwithstanding' = 'notwithstanding your objections'.
Contrast with 'aside' and 'apart', where the premodified and postmodified patterns are different, and with 'ago' which can only be premodified. (So also 'three weeks on', where the premodification has a different meaning to the usual use of 'on'.) Jul 7, 2009