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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bear market

Dillian added that even an investor who think they can take the stress of a bear market, will be unhappy and miserable “the whole time until you get back to the high-water mark.”

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

“At present, virtually every alarm bell warning of a substantial bear market ahead is ringing,” Elliott Investment Management wrote in an October investor letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Even inflation-adjusted growth is above trend, so despite some angst about capital expenditures, we’re not heading for a bear market, Zaccarelli says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The reason is that, over 30-year horizons, there almost always is at least one massive bear market, and 30 years often are not long enough for the stock market to fully recover.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

He was a bull in a bear market; and the more he lost the more he thought the inevitable "rally" in prices was due.

From The Tipster 1901, From "Wall Street Stories" by Edwin Lefevre

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