straight and narrow, the
the straight and narrow
A morally upright way of life. I need to stay on the straight and narrow so I don't get arrested again.
See also: and, narrow, straight
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
straight and narrow, the
The honest and upright way of living, as in He led a wild life when he was young, but he's been on the straight and narrow for some years . This expression is widely though to come from confusion of straight, "not crooked," with strait, "narrow," owing to a misinterpretation of a passage from the New Testament: "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life" (Matthew 7:14). The current phrase dates only from the first half of the 1800s.
See also: and, straight
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
- straight and narrow, (walk) the
- the straight and narrow
- fall short of (one's) goal
- fall short of goal
- a thin line
- squeeze into
- squeeze into (something)
- fall short of the goal
- rifle
- rifle approach