bear market

American  

[bair mahr-kit] / ˈbɛər ˈmɑr kɪt /

noun

Stock Exchange.

1. a financial market characterized by investment prices that are falling or that are forecast to fall.

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bear market Cultural  

1. A market, especially a stock market, characterized by falling prices; the opposite of a bull market.

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Etymology

Origin of bear market

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bear market

That’s far from the 20% drop that classifiees a bear market, Mayfield pointed out.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026

—In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.35%, slipping into a technical bear market with the index down 23% from its June peak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

During the bear market of the 2000s, for example, the plain balanced fund made you effectively no money in real terms.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

U.S. technology stock futures were flat, even as concern around the memory cycle pushed South Korea’s Kospi into a bear market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

It refers to a person who believes that the market value of stocks will decline, and a bear market is a declining market.

From Successful Stock Speculation by Butler, John James