Dovish refers to an economic outlook which generally supports lower interest rates. Doves take the position that inflationary pressures are low enough for low interest rates to be desirable

'Dovish' is typically used to in the context of describing monetary policy actions and outlooks.

For example, if a central banker were to state that the affects of high agricultural costs are unlikely to be felt in wider inflationary indices, then those comments would tend to be described as 'dovish.'

Dovish is similar to bearish. But where bearish describes a pessimistic outlook for a market or security, dovishness describes an optimistic (low) inflationary outlook.

The entomology behind the term comes from the docile, peaceful and positive symbol of the dove - as opposed to hawk, or hawkish.