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

• defeatist
• despairing
• downbeat
• hopeless
• pessimistic

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

The bearish developments follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose trade tariffs on major trading partners, and much higher punitive levels against China on April 2. —Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025

Trade timing The timing for adding bearish exposure to JPM is optimal, as the stock recently broke below the lower end of its trading range at $240 and rallied back to this resistance level and failed. —Tony Zhang, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025

Among the reasons for the bearish sentiment is the uncertainty the Trump administration has created regarding its inconsistent messaging about whether tariffs would be open to negotiation. —David Goldman, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2025

By Craig Trudell and Subrat Patnaik | Bloomberg One of Wall Street’s most bearish Tesla Inc. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bearish

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