bottom-up
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or originating with the common people, nonprofessionals, or the lower ranks of an organization.
The five-day workweek was a bottom-up movement that business leaders and politicians finally supported.
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organized or proceeding from smaller, more detailed units to the larger, more general structure.
His bottom-up approach to research involves immersing himself in communities to better understand the lives of local entrepreneurs.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of bottom-up
First recorded in 1930–35 as an adjective and in 1890–95 as an adverb, both deriving from the phrase “from the bottom up ”
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.
The chart below shows consensus bottom-up earnings estimates compiled by FactSet as of late last week.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026
Since the start of the conflict, full-year earnings-per-share forecasts for the S&P 500 as a whole have risen slightly, according to bottom-up numbers from FactSet.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
This was both top-down and bottom-up, organizing and working together.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
A bottom-up model that engages both citizens and elected officials forms the foundation of the project.
From Science Daily • Feb. 14, 2026
Your top-down system is heavily invested, and it gets reinforced by the bottom-up pings alerting you to what are, in a sense, plot updates.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
