trotz

See also: Trotz

German

Etymology

Ellipsis of zum Trotz (dem) or from constructions with the dative verb trotzen. Compare trotzdem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /trɔts/, [ˈtʰʁ̞̊ɔt͡sʰ], [ˈtrots]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Homophone: Trotts

Preposition

trotz [with (standard) genitive or (now colloquial) dative]

1. in spite of, despite

   Trotz aller Bemühungen ist es uns nicht gelungen, die Ziele des Projekts zu erreichen.

   Despite our best efforts, we were unable to succeed in achieving the project's objectives.

   • 1913 [1878], chapter 3, in Hermann Röhl, transl., Anna Karenina‎^[1], translation of Анна Каренина by Leo Tolstoy, part 1:

     […] Stepan Arkadjewitsch […] fühlte sich nun sauber, wohlduftend, gesund und körperlich munter, trotz seinem Unglück.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2025 November 15, Leonie Gubela, “Nachbarschaft in Berlin-Wilmersdorf: Mondsüchtig”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 December 2025:

     Als seine Tochter trotz sehr guten Notendurchschnitts nicht zur Uni zugelassen wird, beginnt er, die gemeinsame Flucht vorzubereiten.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Trotz originally governed the dative exclusively. Today, dative usage is predominant in colloquial German, whereas genitive usage is predominant in Standard German. This change is due to historical hypercorrection with a desire for an educated tone. The differing use of the dative and genitive are the cause of the differing trotzdem and trotzdessen conjunctions respectively.

Derived terms

• nichtsdestotrotz
• trotzdem

Verb

trotz

1. second-person singular imperative of trotzen

Further reading

• “trotz” in Duden online
• “trotz”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[3] (in German)