‖ malgré, prep.
(malgre)
[Fr.: see maugre.]
1. In spite of, notwithstanding. (In first quot. without regimen.)
| 1608 Bp. Hall Epist. iv. iv. 363 Woe were vs, if our safetie depended vpon your hopes, or his [sc. the pope's] mercies. Blessed be that God, which malgrè hath made and kept vs happie. a 1734 North Exam. i. i. §29 (1740) 28 Our late Sovereign, who, malgre all his endeavours to the Contrary is yet..of glorious Memory. 1769 Hirst in Phil. Trans. LIX. 232 To..acknowledge conviction, malgré all prejudice and preconceived opinion. 1814 Sir R. Wilson Priv. Diary (1861) II. 302, I went..to the opera, malgré the gutters and spouts. 1815 Byron in Moore Life (1838) 281/2, I went (malgré that I ought to have stayed at home in sackcloth..) to..my private box. 1878 L. W. M. Lockhart Mine is Thine II. xxxv. 313 The ‘fowler’..went forth, accordingly, malgré his sister's remonstrances. |
2. Freq. followed by a pronoun, as malgré lui (lɥi), in spite of himself or herself; also malgré elle, eux, moi, etc., in spite of herself, themselves, myself, etc. Also malgré tout, despite everything.
| 1830 C. C. F. Greville Mem. (1874) II. xi. 38 This was my first dinner at Dudley's, brought about malgré lui by Lady Glengall. 1843 Thackeray Confessions of G. Fitz-Boodle: Mr. & Mrs. Berry in Fraser's Mag. Mar. 359/2 We obliged the Frenchman to drink malgré lui. 1852 Geo. Eliot Let. 24–25 July (1954) II. 50, I congratulate you on your ability to be cheerful malgré tout. 1883 G. Bloomfield Reminisc. II. xiii. 45 They say that, malgré eux, they cannot yield. 1904 Wodehouse Gold Bat xiii. 142 He could imagine their feelings when the prodigal strolled into their midst—an old Wrykinian malgré lui. 1929 A. Huxley Holy Face 26 That too, too merry laughter of clergymen who want to prove that, malgré tout, they can be good fellows. 1932 Mind XLI. 24 He [sc. Callicles] stands revealed as a moralist malgré lui. 1933 Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Jan. 56/2 The Bulpington as a warrior malgré lui, whose conduct in action might..have brought him to the execution squad. 1943 Wyndham Lewis Let. 15 Aug. (1963) 363 As you know I am here malgré moi; but I attempt to put to some serious use my prolonged immersion in this N. American civilisation. 1950 A. Huxley Let. 11 Aug. (1969) 629 One likes him, malgré tout. 1963 Economist 28 Dec. 1318/1 These central bankers..have created, almost malgré eux, a code of practice. 1970 Guardian 11 Dec. 10/6 The weight of the acting fell mostly on Anna Cropper as the fertility goddess malgré elle. |