moral high ground

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌmɔɹəl ˈhaɪ ɡɹaʊnd/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Noun

moral high ground (plural moral high grounds)

1. (idiomatic) A position or point of view which is ethically superior or more reputable, in comparison to others which are under consideration.

   Antonym: moral low ground

   • 2002 May 6, Robert Horn, “The Next Face-Off”, in Time‎^[1], archived from the original on 22 October 2010:

     Her legitimacy (as the leader of the party that won the 1990 general election), integrity and stoic acceptance of house arrest enable her to occupy the moral high ground.

   • 2023 July 8, Sara Jacobs, quotee, “Biden approves cluster bombs for Ukraine”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4:

     Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat on the House armed services committee, said the US should not “cede the moral high ground”.

Related terms

• high ground

Translations

A position or point of view

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 道德制高點 / 道德制高点 (dàodézhìgāodiǎn), 道德高地 (dàodégāodì)

• Finnish: korkeamoraalinen näkökanta, hurskasteleva näkökanta
• Polish: wyższość moralna f