bear market

American

[bair mahr-kit] / ˈbɛər ˈmɑr kɪt /

noun

Stock Exchange.

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

bear market Cultural

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

Etymology

Origin of bear market

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

bear market

U.S. investors don’t talk much about the 2011 bear market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

But a bear market does not require a recession.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

A portfolio can recover from a bear market.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

At the lows of this latest bear market, bitcoin had seen the erasure of more than 50% of its value compared with its October 2025 record high above $126,000.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Instead of the price of wheat going up, as it should have done at this season of the year, wheat has been forced down and down by a strong bear market.

From The Automobile Girls at Chicago or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds by Laura Dent Crane

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023