bear hug
noun
Simple meaning
Any usually large, tight or enthusiastic hug, usually friendly and usually given by a male.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behrhuhgSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɛɹˈhʌɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any especially large, tight or enthusiastic hug, usually friendly and especially given by a male.
business
A hostile takeover effort in which one firm offers to buy the other firm at a share price too high to refuse.
wrestling
A wrestling hold with arms locked tightly around the opponent
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any especially large, tight or enthusiastic hug, usually friendly and especially given by a male.
Used this way, bear hug is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Keen and enthusiastic
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “bear hug” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.