Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ to introduce a fact which makes the other part of the sentence surprising.
The National Health Service has visibly deteriorated, ~ increased spending...
She will stand by husband, ~ reports that he sent another woman love notes.
= in spite of
PREP: PREP n/-ing
2.
If you do something ~ yourself you do it although you did not really intend or expect to.
Despite myself, Harry’s remarks had caused me to stop and reflect.
PREP: PREP pron-refl