Albeit is a formal word that means “although” or “even though.” It's a way to acknowledge something that might seem to contradict what you just said, without changing your main point.

When a scientist says “The experiment succeeded, albeit not in the way we expected,” she means it worked, but there's something worth noting about how it happened. When your teacher says “You did well on the test, albeit with some careless mistakes,” he's praising your performance while pointing out room for improvement.

Today, albeit appears most often in formal writing: research papers, serious news articles, and careful arguments. You probably won't hear it much in everyday conversation, where people tend to say “although” or “even though” instead.

Using albeit can make your writing sound more sophisticated and precise. Instead of writing “The book was interesting, but it was too long,” you might write “The book was interesting, albeit rather lengthy.” The word lets you add a qualifying thought smoothly, without breaking the flow of your sentence or seeming to take back what you just said.