stand upon one's dignity

present singular third person stands upon one's dignity · participle present standing upon one's dignity · participle past stood upon one's dignity · past stood upon one's dignity

1. datedTo have or affect a high notion of one's own rank, privilege, or character.

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

   1881, Richard Grant White, “Habits of English Life”, in The Atlantic Monthyl

   1 more example

   "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.

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