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

Short interest remains just below a 52-week high, while bearish positioning in Nvidia and Intel also remains elevated relative to the start of the year despite easing from recent peaks. —Yun Li, CNBC, 20 May 2026

This could all change as soon as next month, when the two-time U.S. Open winner heads to Shinnecock Hills for a bearish test. —Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 15 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

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bearish

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