bottom-up

American  

[bot-uhm--uhp] / ˈbɒt əm ˈʌp /

adjective

1. 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.

2. 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.

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bottom-up British  

adjective

1. from the lowest level of a hierarchy or process to the top

   a bottom-up approach to corporate decision-making

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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

See Examples For:

bottom-up

Tuchel's top-down approach differed greatly from Southgate's bottom-up approach, which partly explains Tuchel feeling Southgate's side lacked identity, clarity, rhythm or repeated patterns.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

The bottom-up, research-driven fund has nailed early investments and timely exits around the AI trade.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

Instead of treating this as a one-off factor that could eventually go into reverse, analysts’ bottom-up earnings estimates for the S&P 500 seem to assume the home runs will keep coming.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Kay: It’s also where we broke the rule of, “We’re not going to just tell the bottom-up story; we’re going to go to the top.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Dr. Anderson has concluded that television’s lure owes its powerful appeal to two parts of attention that often compete: the top-down system and the bottom-up system.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Related Words

• reversed
• upturned