moral high ground
Claimed ethical advantage
A position of ethical superiority in an argument or conflict.
Someone claiming the moral high ground asserts that their stance is more principled or righteous than their opponent's: She took the moral high ground by refusing to engage in personal attacks.
The phrase often carries skepticism—people who claim it may be self-righteous rather than genuinely virtuous.
To cede the moral high ground is to forfeit ethical credibility through one's own actions.
- better angelsOur noblest moral impulses
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- soapboxPlatform for haranguing
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
- ethical standardsNorms governing right conduct
finger-wagging · integrity · holier-than-thou · holier than thou · fairness · good standing · honesty · justice · credibility · high road · righteous indignation · casting stones · high horse · ivory tower · looking down on · lecturing · upstanding · ethics
- advantagesedge, leverage, upper hand, leg up, head start
- moral sayingsdo unto others, golden rule, do the right thing, honesty is the best policy, treat others fairly
- moral statesvirtue, vice, righteousness, wickedness, innocence
- figurative placeslimbo, crossroads, dead end, comfort zone, happy place
- hypocrisyhypocrisy, hypocrite, sanctimony, two-faced, self-righteousness
- preachingsermonizing, homiletics, altar call, scripture reading, closing prayer
moral high groundmoral bankruptcy
Utter lack of principles
moral turpitude · depravity · disgrace · ignominy · corruption
moral, morality, morals, morally, immorality, moralizing, demoralize, moralistic, demoralized