bearish

[bair-ish]

adjective

1. like a bear; rough, burly, or clumsy.

2. Informal.,  grumpy, bad-mannered, or rude.

3. Commerce.

   1. declining or tending toward a decline in prices.

   2. characterized by or reflecting unfavorable prospects for the economy or some aspect of it.

      a bearish market.

bearish

/ ˈbɛərɪʃ /

adjective

1. like a bear; rough; clumsy; churlish

2. stock exchange causing, expecting, or characterized by a fall in prices

   a bearish market

Other Word Forms

• bearishly adverb
• bearishness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of bearish¹

First recorded in 1735–45; bear ² + -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Shares are also heavily shorted, with bearish investors borrowing stock and selling it, hoping prices will decline.

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Plug Power shares are heavily shorted, with bearish investors borrowing stock and selling it, hoping prices will decline.

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James Gandolfini is best known for playing a single character: Tony Soprano, the bearish New Jersey gangster at the heart of HBO’s massively popular series “The Sopranos.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The group is the most short dollar since September, with bearish bets on the U.S. currency worth about $13.9 billion during the week ended April 22, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

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Merz isn't the only mainstream European conservative to turn bearish on America skeptic; it's starting to look like a trend.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• coarse 
• cruel 
• hard 
• harsh 
• nasty 
• raw 
• tough 
• unpleasant 
• unpolished www.thesaurus.com
• violent