Question:easy

Select the correct meaning of the italicized idiom or phrase out of the four choices given.
His friends failed to see why he should ride the high horse just because he had won an election.

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Picture a man mounted above the crowd. In English, height over others is the standard figure for pride, as in "look down on someone".
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • become abnormal
  • appear arrogant
  • indulge in dreams
  • hate others
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The clue sits in the second half of the sentence: "just because he had won an election". The words "just because" carry disapproval, so the friends think his reaction to the win is out of proportion. Whatever the idiom means must be something a small success might wrongly bring on.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Trace the image, then read the tone. The picture is of a man mounted on a tall horse, physically above the crowd. Height above others is the standard English figure for pride, as in "look down on someone" and "come down a peg". Then check which option matches both the image and the disapproving tone.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The history helps. In earlier centuries, rank decided who rode the tallest horse in a procession, so being high on horseback marked a man out as important. English kept the picture and turned it into a jibe at anyone acting grand.
Apply it here. He won an election and started behaving as though he stood above his own friends, and they cannot see the justification. That reads as arrogance.
Test "become abnormal". Nothing in the sentence suggests strange or disturbed behaviour, only unwelcome behaviour.
Test "indulge in dreams". The high horse is about position over other people, not about fantasies. The idiom for daydreaming is "build castles in the air".
Test "hate others". Looking down on people and hating them are different things. A man on his high horse may still be friendly, just insufferably superior.
Test "appear arrogant". This matches the height image, the disapproving "just because", and the ordinary use of the phrase.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The idiom marks someone putting on airs, so the answer is option (B), appear arrogant.
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