stand upon one's dignity

English

Verb

stand upon one's dignity (third-person singular simple present stands upon one's dignity, present participle standing upon one's dignity, simple past and past participle stood upon one's dignity)

1. (dated) To have or affect a high notion of one's own rank, privilege, or character.
   • 1881, Richard Grant White, “Habits of English Life”, in The Atlantic Monthyl:

     They did not stand upon their dignity, nor give their minds to being or to seeming as elegant and as fine as anybody else.

   • 1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear, Part 2 Chapter 2:

     "By Gar! you've got an Irish tongue in your head anyhow," cried the saloon-keeper, not quite certain whether to humour this audacious visitor or to stand upon his dignity.

References

• “dignity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.