bearish

adjective

bear·​ish ˈber-ish 

1

: resembling a bear in build or in roughness, gruffness, or surliness

a bearish man

2

a

: marked by, tending to cause, or fearful of falling prices (as in a stock market)

bearish investors

b

: pessimistic

bearishly adverb

bearishness noun

Synonyms of bearish

• hopeless
• cynical
• pessimistic
• negative

Examples of bearish in a Sentence

The market has been bearish lately.

some studio execs are bearish about this summer's box office

Recent Examples on the Web

However, Burry warned that directly betting against the rally through short selling is risky and impractical for most investors, particularly as bearish trades have become increasingly expensive. —Yun Li, CNBC, 11 May 2026

Bullish signs of accelerating Cloud execution are being offset by the bearish reality of near-term free cash flow compression. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 1 May 2026

For a tech worker sitting on concentrated company stock, moving some money into safer assets may not be a bearish call on AI, but diversification. —Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2026

Throughout the 20th century, skirt lengths were said to signal the state of the economy: minis thrived in boom times, while hems hit the floor in bearish moments. —Christina Holevas, Vogue, 29 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bearish

• cherish
• farish
• garish
• perish
• squarish
• nightmarish