low road
Expedient but dishonorable
The low road is the less honorable or ethical path, as opposed to the high road.
Taking the low road means resorting to underhanded tactics, petty behavior, or moral shortcuts: When they go low, we go high.
The phrase often appears in political contexts where opponents trade attacks: He took the low road with those personal insults.
Painful awareness of failure
- disgraceLoss of honor
- scandalDisgraceful public affair
- stigmaMark of dishonor
- disreputeDamaged public standing
ignominy · infamy · tarnish · degradation · discredit · humiliation · dishonorable · ignoble
Crafty and calculating
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- underhandedSecretly dishonest or unfair
- deceitfulInclined to mislead others
- dishonestInclined to deceive
manipulative · duplicitous · crafty · sneaky · corruption · bribery · fraud · cheating
shame
Painful awareness of failure
disrepute · ignominy · infamy · tarnish · degradation · discredit · humiliation · dishonorable · ignoble · base
scheming
Crafty and calculating
- connivingSecretly planning wrongdoing
- underhandedSecretly dishonest or unfair
- deceitfulInclined to mislead others
dishonest · manipulative · duplicitous · crafty · sneaky · corruption · bribery · fraud · cheating · exploitation
valley
Low ground between heights
dale · ravine · bottom · gulch · basin · floodplain · meadow · riverside · scenic route · flatland
- figurative placeslimbo, crossroads, dead end, comfort zone, happy place
- metaphorsbroken heart, dead metaphor, mixed metaphor, time is money, extended metaphor
- moral decaymoral decay, moral decline, moral collapse, moral bankruptcy, degeneration
low roadhigh road
Elevated moral approach
moral high ground · ethical conduct · integrity · fair play · righteous path
low, road, lower, lowest, lowly, lowness, lows, roads, roadway