take the high road

American  

[tayk thuh hahy rohd] / ˈteɪk ðə ˈhaɪ ˌroʊd /

idiom

1. to take a more honorable or ethical course of action.

   The moderator is hoping that candidates will take the high road on debate night and stick to discussing the issues instead of flinging mud at each other.

---

Etymology

Origin of take the high road

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

take the high road

For me personally, I’ve really had to take the high road a lot in the last decade or so.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 26, 2023

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, chose to take the high road as Hurricane Ian battered the Sunshine State.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 28, 2022

Asked Friday at his press conference whether USC “misled” him, Kliavkoff said, “I’m not going to talk about that. We’re going to take the high road and not talk about what happened in the past.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2022

“Why don’t we take the high road and compete against the U.S. at the diplomatic level using honest information?” he wrote.

From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2021

Leah could always do that—she’d take the high road to please Father, or her teachers, or God, or maybe just to prove she could do it.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver