the moral high ground

/ðə mˈɒɹəl hˈaɪ ɡɹˈaʊnd/

/ðə mˈɔːɹəl hˈaɪ ɡɹˈaʊnd/

[phrase]

[PHRASE]

a claim that one has moral superiority over others

Examples

1. They assured all drivers that they would pay all of their fines and took the moral high ground in public, asserting that they were not a taxi company and, therefore, not subject to regulatory provisions.

2. maybe acknowledging those things can be the moral high ground sometimes?

3. (Aside: when the Daily Mirror is taking the moral high ground over you, you know you might want to take a moment to reevaluate your decision making paradigm.)

4. I will understand if you think it was complete garbage, but I feel like they did that for him just to make him feel like he did have the moral high ground like to complicate his character so that he had his own secrets.