Synonyms of bearing

bearing 1 of 3

noun

ˈber-iŋ 

1

as in relevance

the fact or state of being pertinent

these new facts have some bearing on the case

Synonyms & Similar Words

• relevance
• relevancy
• connection
• significance
• applicability
• pertinence
• importance
• materiality
• suitability
• fitness
• appropriateness
• aptness
• suitableness
• rightness
• usefulness
• appositeness
• seemliness
• felicitousness
• fittingness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• irrelevance
• inapplicability
• irrelevancy
• unfitness
• unsuitability
• insignificance
• inappropriateness
• infelicity
• extraneousness
• inaptness
• uselessness
• meaninglessness
• inappositeness
• pointlessness

2

as in relationship

the fact or state of having something in common

I don't see any bearing between the quality of this bottle of wine and its rather exorbitant price

Synonyms & Similar Words

• relationship
• kinship
• association
• connection
• correlation
• relation
• linkage
• affinity
• link
• similarity
• resemblance
• liaison
• relevance
• tie
• bond
• interrelation
• affiliation
• union
• pertinence
• accordance
• materiality
• alliance
• likeness
• correspondence
• agreement
• conformity
• sameness
• identicalness
• alikeness
• community
• congruity

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• variance
• variability
• incompatibility
• incongruity
• incongruence
• incongruousness

3

as in behavior

the way or manner in which one conducts oneself

always retained his military bearing, even after he entered politics

Synonyms & Similar Words

• behavior
• actions
• demeanor
• presence
• address
• attitude
• conduct
• manners
• deportment
• characteristic
• comportment
• trait
• look
• pose
• form
• posture
• style
• geste
• courtesy
• etiquette
• carriage
• air
• habit
• practice
• affectation
• aspect
• politeness
• proprieties
• pattern
• attribute
• poise
• rules
• mores
• decorum
• custom
• distinctiveness
• civility
• peculiarity
• mien
• protocol
• mode
• wont
• uniqueness
• formality
• amenity
• singularity
• trick
• fashion
• mark
• convention
• strangeness
• weirdness
• p's and q's
• oddity
• habitude

bearing

2 of 3

adjective

as in producing

Related Words

• producing
• yielding
• generative
• fertile
• prolific
• fecund
• fruitful
• rich
• abundant
• productive
• bountiful
• copious
• fructuous
• luxuriant
• bursting
• plentiful
• generous
• fat
• liberal
• abounding
• lush
• flourishing
• cornucopian
• original
• blooming
• thriving
• teeming
• plenteous
• plenitudinous
• creative
• swarming
• inventive

Dissimilar Words

• dead
• sterile
• barren
• unproductive
• infertile
• unfruitful
• spare
• scant
• scanty
• meager
• sparse
• unfertile
• skimpy
• skimp

bearing

3 of 3

verb

present participle of bear

1

as in having

to bring forth from the womb

luckily, she turned out to be able to bear children after all

Synonyms & Similar Words

• having
• producing
• delivering
• birthing
• mothering
• dropping
• giving birth to
• generating
• getting
• reproducing
• propagating
• breeding
• spawning
• laboring
• multiplying
• siring
• begetting
• fathering
• littering
• kindling
• kidding
• calving
• kittening
• pupping
• whelping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• losing
• aborting
• miscarrying

2

as in standing

to put up with (something painful or difficult)

I can't bear the thought of losing another loved one

Synonyms & Similar Words

• standing
• enduring
• handling
• accepting
• tolerating
• taking
• sustaining
• absorbing
• supporting
• wearing
• abiding
• stomaching
• swallowing
• meeting
• living with
• sticking out
• standing for
• pocketing
• biding
• going
• countenancing
• lumping (it)
• hacking
• brooking
• suffering
• sweating out
• permitting
• allowing
• toughing it out
• respecting
• reconciling (to)
• yielding (to)
• submitting (to)
• acquiescing
• agreeing (with or to)
• consenting (to)
• assenting (to)
• capitulating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• refusing
• rejecting
• dismissing
• declining
• opposing
• fighting
• resisting
• repudiating
• turning down
• missing
• combating
• avoiding
• contesting
• escaping
• evading
• spurning
• bypassing
• dodging
• eluding
• circumventing
• refraining (from)
• abstaining (from)
• forbearing

3

as in relating

to have a relation or connection

I just found another fact that bears on this issue

Synonyms & Similar Words

• relating
• pertaining
• applying
• referring
• concerning
• affecting
• interesting
• appertaining
• involving
• having to do with
• touching
• connecting
• linking
• coupling
• dealing (with)
• treating
• interrelating
• tying in
• associating

4

as in heading

to go on a specified course or in a certain direction

the road bears left after the second traffic light

Synonyms & Similar Words

• heading
• turning
• making
• pointing
• putting
• bending
• facing
• aiming
• veering
• directing
• steering
• setting out
• orienting
• striking
• setting off
• backing
• reversing
• taking off
• putting out
• tacking
• inclining
• cutting
• turning back
• yawing
• lighting out
• coming round
• beelining
• coming about
• wheeling
• swerving
• about-facing
• putting about

5

as in carrying

to hold up or serve as a foundation for

the wooden bridge will only bear one truck at a time

Synonyms & Similar Words

• carrying
• sustaining
• supporting
• bolstering
• staying
• upholding
• bracing
• underpinning
• buttressing
• undergirding
• underlying
• propping (up)
• shoring (up)
• steadying
• trussing

6

as in holding

to keep in one's mind or heart

I'm not one to bear grudges

Synonyms & Similar Words

• having
• holding
• retaining
• harboring
• carrying
• keeping
• cultivating
• entertaining
• cherishing
• maintaining
• holding on to
• remembering
• sustaining
• nursing
• preserving
• hanging on to
• fostering
• supporting
• hugging
• nurturing
• sticking (to)
• clinging (to)
• treasuring
• cleaving (to)
• brooding (about or over)
• fixating (on or upon)
• obsessing (about or over)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• disregarding
• dropping
• forgetting
• denying
• overlooking
• neglecting
• refusing
• declining
• rejecting
• repudiating
• abandoning
• discarding
• renouncing
• giving up
• forsaking
• deserting
• throwing out
• parting (with)
• scorning
• disdaining
• quitting
• abjuring
• erasing
• expunging

7

as in behaving

to manage the actions of (oneself) in a particular way

she bore herself well in her first public speaking event

Synonyms & Similar Words

• carrying
• behaving
• acquitting
• restraining
• containing
• conducting
• handling
• composing
• collecting
• comporting
• checking
• controlling
• demeaning
• deporting
• curbing
• constraining
• inhibiting
• quieting
• modulating
• repressing
• playing
• tempering
• quitting
• moderating
• acting
• impersonating

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• carrying on
• cutting up
• misbehaving
• acting up
• misconducting

8

as in hauling

to support and take from one place to another

the rescue team came bearing much-needed food and supplies

Synonyms & Similar Words

• carrying
• hauling
• transporting
• ferrying
• bringing
• sending
• conveying
• packing
• toting
• lugging
• delivering
• carting
• taking
• transferring
• shipping
• transmitting
• removing
• forwarding
• moving
• shifting
• fetching
• handing over

9

as in shouldering

to take to or upon oneself

I bear some responsibility for the mishap

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shouldering
• accepting
• assuming
• undertaking
• embracing
• taking over
• adopting
• endorsing
• advocating
• upholding
• backing
• championing
• supporting
• standing by
• taking up
• espousing
• assenting
• acquiescing
• consenting
• acceding
• agreeing
• reaccepting
• reassuming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• withdrawing
• disclaiming
• repudiating
• refusing
• disavowing
• renouncing
• rejecting
• retracting
• disowning
• declining
• avoiding
• taking back
• abjuring
• turning down
• recanting
• spurning
• bypassing
• abstaining (from)
• refraining (from)
• relinquishing
• abandoning
• forbearing
• forsaking
• surrendering
• detouring
• giving up
• unsaying
• backing down
• backing off
• backtracking
• abnegating

10

as in packing

to wear or have on one's person

the right to bear arms

Synonyms & Similar Words

• carrying
• packing
• exhibiting
• displaying
• sporting
• flaunting
• showing
• showing off
• parading

11

as in leading

to be positioned along a certain course or in a certain direction

the path will bear north after that marked tree

Synonyms & Similar Words

• leading
• extending
• going
• running
• lying
• heading
• crossing
• passing
• cutting
• following
• spanning
• traversing
• coursing

12

as in requiring

to have as a requirement

the violence in that country bears watching if the world wants to avoid a serious international conflict

Synonyms & Similar Words

• requiring
• needing
• taking
• wanting
• involving
• demanding
• claiming
• necessitating
• warranting
• challenging
• calling for
• asking
• entailing
• lacking
• begging
• insisting
• pressing
• crying (for)
• hurting (for)
• commanding
• stipulating
• enjoining
• clamoring (for)
• exacting
• questing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• having
• holding
• possessing
• owning

13

as in containing

to have within

gold-bearing ore

Synonyms & Similar Words

• containing
• holding
• boasting
• housing
• fitting
• encompassing
• enclosing
• accommodating
• taking
• casing
• sheltering
• harboring
• lodging
• encasing

14

as in being

to occupy a place or location

a hot, humid air mass is now bearing just south of the Gulf Coast

Synonyms & Similar Words

• being
• standing
• sitting
• lying
• remaining
• residing
• waiting
• resting
• awaiting
• staying
• hanging around
• posting
• overlooking
• sticking around
• commanding
• tarrying
• dwelling
• stationing

15

as in yielding

to produce as revenue

an interest-bearing savings account

Synonyms & Similar Words

• yielding
• paying
• giving
• providing
• returning
• supplying
• affording
• furnishing
• bringing in
• netting
• paying off

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun bearing contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of bearing are carriage, demeanor, deportment, manner, and mien. While all these words mean "the outward manifestation of personality or attitude," bearing is the most general of these words but now usually implies characteristic posture.

a woman of regal bearing

When is it sensible to use carriage instead of bearing?

The meanings of carriage and bearing largely overlap; however, carriage applies chiefly to habitual posture in standing or walking.

the kind of carriage learned at boarding school

When could demeanor be used to replace bearing?

The synonyms demeanor and bearing are sometimes interchangeable, but demeanor suggests one's attitude toward others as expressed in outward behavior.

the haughty demeanor of the headwaiter

When might deportment be a better fit than bearing?

While in some cases nearly identical to bearing, deportment suggests actions or behavior as formed by breeding or training.

your deportment was atrocious

In what contexts can manner take the place of bearing?

While the synonyms manner and bearing are close in meaning, manner implies characteristic or customary way of moving and gesturing and addressing others.

the imperious manner of a man used to giving orders

Where would mien be a reasonable alternative to bearing?

The words mien and bearing are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, mien is a literary term referring both to bearing and demeanor.

a mien of supreme self-satisfaction

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of bearing

Noun

Wellenkamp, however, believes that the fate of the income tax repeal has no bearing on the vote for a sovereign wealth fund. — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2026

The inquiry has no direct bearing on Letby’s convictions, which have already been tested in the Court of Appeal. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2026

Adjective

And the lichen also avoids non-bearing rocks like granite, sandstone, and quartzite, where its occurrence dropped to less than one percent. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2026

Verb

Ty Masterson Masterson, the Republican nominee from Andover and president of the state Senate, says Kansas rules adopted in 2025 already protect utility ratepayers from bearing costs associated with data center developments. — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 24 Sep. 2026

Its existence was recorded in a renowned engraving by Paulus Pontius, designed by Peter Paul Rubens and bearing an inscription noting that the portrait was based on a work by Vélazquez. — News Desk, Artforum, 24 Sep. 2026