Take the 2-minute tour ×

I'm looking for the adjective form of "integrity."



share|improve this question
I believe honourable or virtuous convey the meaning best. –  user45320 Jun 2 '13 at 15:17

15 Answers 15


share|improve this answer


share|improve this answer


Be a mensch.

Merriam-Webster defines mensch thusly:

a person of integrity and honor

Wiktionary even has a few cites:

  • 1960, The Apartment:



Edit two years later in reply to comments. No, this word does not have to be spoken to someone with a certain cultural baggage. Here is what Steve Martin tweeted earlier today:


This went out to 5.2 million followers, not a homogenous bunch by any measure, then got retweeted 50000 times, then picked up by traditional media outlets all over the world.

Mr. Martin does not exactly have a track record of not knowing when to use which word, and we cannot with a straight face claim that everyone who read his message shares the same cultural baggage.

Even more to the point, even if every single recipient did have to look up any word in that message because it was somehow obscure — now it no longer is.

share|improve this answer
@Raissa: Who are these "others" you speak of? Most people I know understand the term and its connotations implicitly. –  Robusto Dec 13 '13 at 20:50



Be virtuous!

share|improve this answer
Integrity has meanings other than virtue. For instance: data integrity. So this answer is only sort of right, some of the time (yes, one of those times is the situation cited in the question :p). –  Damon Jul 3 '13 at 21:01





share|improve this answer
Integrous, integrious, and integre are all marked by the OED as both obsolete and rare. All their citations are from before 1700. I would use them with the utmost care. –  Janus Bahs Jacquet Dec 6 '13 at 20:09
I have heard integrous used often enough in conversation, and, whenever I use it, no one thinks twice about what I mean. The rule about knowing one's audience still applies, but I think that the word is safe to use. –  Anonym Jan 13 '14 at 7:27


Be noble

Be upstanding

Be moral

Be without reproach

share|improve this answer



integrious (comparative more integrious, superlative most integrious)
(rare) Marked by integrity.

Most importantly, Wiktionary cites the reference of
The Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition Volume VII.


Found something on the Why We Need the word Integrious movement!

share|improve this answer


share|improve this answer
@KristinaLopez: also it seems counter to all experience. I've never heard of either, and wouldn't recognize them if heard. –  Mitch Feb 20 '13 at 20:00


Thus, a few examples are:

  • Be honest
  • Be true to yourself
  • Be upright
  • Be blameless
  • Be above reproach


share|improve this answer

Be Ethical

Ethical - of or relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these.

Integrity - the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

share|improve this answer

Depending on whom I was writing to or for, I might be brave enough to try 'intact'. 'John was a thoroughly intact individual, so I decided to trust the job to him'. The Latin 'intacta' means 'unimpaired'. The second meaning of 'integrity' in the ODE (not OED) is 'the state of being whole and undivided'. So my contention is that an honest person is an 'intact' person.

But then it would be just as quick to say 'As John was a man of integrity, I decided to trust the job to him'.

share|improve this answer

I use "integrity" with information a good deal. If information has integrity, it is "reliable" and/or "valid." For a person, I'd probably refer to them as "reliable" if they display integrity.

share|improve this answer


Not really the correct connotation when describing a person, but yeah. That's the adjective form of the noun "integrity."

share|improve this answer

Describing a person, I would favour 'virtuous'. In the context of data integrity, though, I have heard industry people use 'integral' to describe data.

share|improve this answer

I would go with trustworthy, meaning "able to be relied upon as a person of integrity".

share|improve this answer

protected by tchrist Aug 13 '14 at 4:41


Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?
