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Integrity

n. thoughtful, resilient formal

What it means

Meaning 1

A steady commitment to honest and morally consistent conduct.

Reach for it when praising character that holds to sound principles under pressure

Her integrity showed when she corrected the result that favored her own team.

Meaning 2

The state of remaining whole, sound, and undamaged.

Reach for it when describing the reliability of data, structures, or systems

Checksums protected the integrity of the archive during transfer.

Words to choose between 8

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom, and by meaning across. Tap a word to see when it fits.
Meaning 1Meaning 2
everyday
warm
professional
formal
literary

Meaning 1: A steady commitment to honest and morally consistent conduct.

  • everyday

    honesty

    Fits when truthfulness is the specific trait being praised

    Careful Integrity also covers conduct, consistency, and principles beyond telling the truth.

  • warm

    trustworthiness

    Fits when others can safely rely on the person's conduct

    Careful Trust is the result people experience, not the moral consistency itself.

  • formal

    principle

    Fits when commitment to a moral rule is the central fact

    Careful A principle is a standard; integrity is the character shown in following sound standards.

  • literary

    uprightness

    Fits when elevated prose calls for a word naming moral rectitude

    Careful Its old-fashioned tone can make ordinary workplace praise sound pompous.

Meaning 2: The state of remaining whole, sound, and undamaged.

  • warm

    wholeness

    Fits when remaining complete and undivided matters more than technical reliability

    Careful Wholeness can sound spiritual or personal in engineering and data contexts.

  • professional

    stability

    Fits when the structure or system resists unwanted change over time

    Careful A stable system may preserve a damaged or internally inconsistent state.

  • professional

    validity

    Fits when data or reasoning still supports the intended conclusion

    Careful Valid information can be incomplete or altered, so validity is not data integrity.

  • formal

    soundness

    Fits when freedom from structural weakness is the issue

    Careful Soundness does not specifically cover completeness or protection from alteration.

Opposites 4

  • dishonesty
  • corruption
  • compromise
  • damage

Common phrases 3

  • personal integrity

    Her personal integrity mattered most when nobody else could see the records.

  • act with integrity

    To act with integrity, the panel disclosed every relevant relationship.

  • structural integrity

    Engineers confirmed the structural integrity of the bridge before reopening it.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated