sink so low

sink so low

To lower one's ethical standards (or perceived standards) by behaving in a malignant, self-centered, or despicable manner. In the wake of these vicious attacks, it's horrible to think that our fellow citizens could sink so low in the name of patriotism. I knew John wasn't the most philanthropic guy around, but I never expected him to sink so low.
See also: low, sink
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ˌsink so ˈlow

,

sink to something

have such low moral standards that you do something very bad: Stealing from your friends? How could you sink so low? I can’t believe that anyone would sink to such depths.
See also: low, sink
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • sink to such depths
  • stoop so low
  • sink to new depths
  • present company excepted
  • present company excluded
  • I'm all right, Jack
  • ego tripper
  • ego-tripper
References in classic literature
Sometimes the sky seemed to be rising high, high overhead, and then it seemed to sink so low that one could touch it with one's hand.
I knew, of course, that they must despise me now for my lack of success in the service, and for my having let myself sink so low, going about badly dressed and so on--which seemed to them a sign of my incapacity and insignificance.
It beggars belief that people would sink so low as to steal from a food bank knowing those items are for people who are in desperate need.
Anne Darwin now says she feels ashamed of herself, asking: "How could any mother sink so low?" Sink?
So, can someone tell me how, on God's Own Earth, one of this country's most iconic football clubs, Leeds United, has been allowed to sink so low that a convicted Italian tax dodger calls them a "s*** team" and says, unless he takes them over, they'll go bust?
Kevan Jones has admitted depression saw him sink so low he could not leave the house and even questioned his purpose in life.
"I never thought I'd sink so low. All kind of things were running through my head.
What on earth are these people thinking of to allow themselves to sink so low, bringing shame on themselves, the city and Wales?
I bet you thought no union could ever sink so low again.
Detective Inspector Sean Anderson, of Notts Police, said: "It defies belief that someone can sink so low as to attack and sexually abuse a helpless old lady who has had a stroke and who is incapable of defending herself."
Your boss has the responsibility to envision the worst: not only that you might share company secrets with your new employer and steal customers, but even that you might sink so low as to try to lure colleagues to join you.
Our attraction to both is inseparable from our need to prove to ourselves that we are different from them--to prove that if we will never rise so high, we would never sink so low."
We aspire so high; we sink so low. We are filled with great expectations and long to dance to the music of our high calling, but we fail, repeatedly and miserably, to achieve even the smallest and simplest steps.
She seems always to be whispering to herself (and to her first-person narrator): imagine a mind that could come to this - achieve so much, sink so low.
With missed doses, the drug level in the body can sink so low that even more lethal strains of HIV, called "super HIV," can flourish.