From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrise above something phrasal verbIGNOREif someone rises above a bad situation or bad influences, they do not let these things affect them because they are mentally strong or have strong moral principles You expect a certain amount of criticism, but you have to rise above it. I try to rise above such prejudices. → rise→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
rise above • They could rise above mere opinion, with its sharp words and raised voices, to serene and stable fact.• Robert Caswell's writing seldom rises above soap opera.• His father's Kinsai house was built upon a natural plateau which rose above the curtain wall of the city.• The criteria of sameness and difference offer few ways of separating out peoples once we rise above the level of locality.• We are challenged to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. 