Skip to main content
bear

bear

142 8.6
A person who expects stock prices to fall
  • noun
  • /bɛr/
  • Jargon
translation icon : bajista
  • If you're fully invested and there's a long term bear market, what do people do?

It's bulls profit, bears profit, Pigs get slaughtered.

Examples

  • The complete guidance program encompasses certain non-teaching functions that have a direct bearing on student relationships.

    Academic text (1995)
  • In a bear market, many investors sell their stocks to avoid further losses.

  • The bears got the the stock market bears got the earnings situation wrong.

  • Yeah, Lyle, it's a bear market.

  • A creative musician is able to bring these personal qualities to bear while composing, improvising, and performing music.

    Academic text (1991)
  • What we discover in discussing (R3) has a bearing on all the other issues.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The financial analyst warned that the bears were dominating the market this quarter.

  • Investors often panic during bear markets, fearing that stock prices will continue to drop.

Antonyms

bull
  • Specialized
38 6.7

An investor who buys shares hoping prices will rise

Idioms

13 6.7

Take the worst part of something bad

A hard burden someone must live with

5 6.8

To accept an unpleasant situation without complaining

to poke the bear
  • Informal
3 8.4

To do something on purpose to make an angry or dangerous person react

loaded for bear
  • Informal
3 9.2

Ready and well prepared to face a strong challenge

9.9

Win first place in a competition

To behave calmly and with self-respect in difficult or formal situations

To say yes strongly in an informal, rude way

Compounds

58 1.0

A soft toy shaped like a bear that children hug

37 1.1

A large white bear that lives in the Arctic and hunts seals on sea ice

22 3.1

A large, powerful brown bear that lives in mountains and forests in western North America

bear market
  • Specialized
16 5.3

A time when stock prices fall a lot and people expect them to keep falling

11 1.0

A medium-sized wild animal in North America with black or dark brown fur

9 3.0

A very strong, tight hold with your arms around someone

6 1.9

A large, powerful wild animal with brown fur that lives in forests in Asia and North America

5 1.0

A large black and white bear from China that eats mostly bamboo

4 2.9

A sweet yeast pastry shaped like a semicircle with slits

4 1.0

A young bear that still depends on its mother

koala bear
  • Australian
2 1.0

A slow tree animal from Australia with grey fur that eats eucalyptus leaves and carries its babies in a pouch

average bear
  • Informal
2 7.2

An ordinary person with average skills and no special qualities

1 6.4

A sharp claw from a bear used as an ornament or piece of jewelry

1 5.5

A very large brown bear that lives on Kodiak Island and nearby coasts

1 7.7

A furry caterpillar with black and brown bands that appears in gardens

bear hug
  • Jargon
1 8.1

An offer to buy a company at a very high price that its directors feel they must accept

bear-baiting
  • Offensive
1 9.9

An old cruel show where a chained bear is attacked by dogs

Care Bear
  • Baby Talk
1 3.0

A made-up colorful bear character with a symbol on its belly showing a feeling

American black bear
  • Specialized
1 3.4

A medium-sized North American bear usually with black or dark brown fur and less aggressive than brown bears

1 6.3

A legal right for people to own and carry guns

9.9

A large reddish-brown mammal like a raccoon that lives in trees in Southeast Asia

8.3

A carved or painted design that looks like a bear's claw on pottery and crafts

9.1

A plant that lives for many years with long leaves like grass and tall stalks of white flowers

9.5

A small oak tree that grows like a bush and forms dense thickets

7.6

A sweet bun shaped like a bear's paw with almond filling

9.9

To set dogs on a bear for people to watch

About the same size as a bear and very heavy

black bear
  • Indian
3.0

A small wild animal in Asia with black fur and a pale chest patch

8.4

A small reddish-brown animal like a raccoon that lives in the eastern Himalayas and eats bamboo

8.1

A reddish-brown type of bear found mainly in western North America

coon bear
  • Archaic
9.9

A large black and white bear that eats bamboo

drop bear
  • Australian
9.9

A fake dangerous animal Australians joke about that falls from trees onto people to scare tourists

8.2

A mammal in Africa that is active at night and digs burrows to eat termites

8.5

A large hairy South American mammal with a long tongue and strong claws for eating ants

A very large brown bear that lives on the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia

6.3

A medium-sized black bear with a white V-shaped chest patch from central and eastern Asia

A small group of stars in the northern sky that includes the North Star

A large group of stars in the northern sky that includes the Big Dipper

7.9

An animal from tropical America that lives in trees and uses its long tail to hold branches while eating fruit

2.3

A large white bear that lives in the Arctic and hunts seals

native bear
  • Australian
4.8

A small Australian animal that lives in trees, carries babies in a pouch, and eats eucalyptus leaves

pookie bear
  • Baby Talk
9.9

A loving name someone uses for a partner or child

A type of brown bear with pale yellow fur from the Middle East

9.8

A stocky wild animal from North America with thick fur that eats meat, like a wolverine

sloth bear
  • Indian
8.1

A large, hairy bear from south-central Asia that eats ants and termites

A hairy caterpillar with thick, stiff hairs that turns into a small moth

A hairy caterpillar with a thick, fuzzy coat and dark bands

How Optimistic

speculator
26 6.2
bull
  • Specialized
38 6.7
bear
  • Jargon
142 8.6
bearishness
  • Jargon
7.4

Surface Forms

bear singular
bears plural

Etymology

Bear used for the stock market names a person who expects prices to fall, and one popular story says it comes from the animal bear which swipes down with its paw, so a market 'bear' is someone who expects prices to go down.