The Macmillandictionary says it is, but I'm still unsure about its veracity.
The sentence in which I'd like to use it, is as follows :
"Sometimes peer-pressure & the feeling of need to conform can hinder a person from remaining integrious."
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The full (subscription-only) OED has it marked as obsolete. But even if you replaced it by a more "current" term (such as honest, moral, decent), the sequence ...can hinder a person from remaining XXX would not be "felicitous". If you like the word integrity, consider something like ...can make it difficult to retain one's integrity or similar. And it's just the need to conform - forget about including feeling of there.– FumbleFingersCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 17:12
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A thousand mention of gratitude for accommodating & accounting my query, as well as introducing me to a foreign word(felicitous)! But, if it's not too much to ask, ma'am, may I know the reason why it could be beneficial to disregard feeling of?– BaoCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 18:12
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My point about feeling of is essentially a stylistic choice. It adds nothing to the intended meaning, and it clashes with preceding "clipped" peer pressure (not hyphenated, just a shorter way of saying pressure from peers). You could say avoiding can hinder a person from remaining X is also just a stylistic choice, but that second one would probably be classed as "clumsy, awkward" by more people than would agree with me regarding feeling of. Both are "syntactically valid" - it's just a matter of whether they're "natural, idiomatic".– FumbleFingersCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 18:22
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1 Answer
"Valid" is a subjective thing here. It's obviously a valid adjective - although the spelling integrous seems to have significantly more use - but your question seems to be "is the word in common use?"
The answer to this is no. As a native speaker, I don't recall ever hearing it being used. Instead you will likely opt for a description that involves its noun counterpart:
He is a man [of/with] great integrity.
Adjectival scenarios will tend to use a synonym or similar word to define the characteristics:
He is an honest, trustworthy man [of great integrity].
