moral soundness
"he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business"
"they admired his scrupulous professional integrity"
Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
"She turned down the lucrative offer because her integrity would not allow her to compromise on safety standards."
In plain English: Integrity means being honest and having strong moral principles even when no one is watching.
"The company's reputation for integrity grew after they returned the extra money by mistake."
Usage: Use integrity to describe someone who consistently acts according to strong moral principles, even when no one is watching. It refers to personal honesty and uprightness rather than the structural soundness of an object.
The word entered English via Middle French as intégrité, derived from the Latin integritās meaning "soundness." It shares a common root with entirety, though it developed its specific sense of moral uprightness independently over time.