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

Few opportunities for such bottom-up accountability exist in the Australian superannuation system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Think of it more as an inversion, with a bottom-up view of its heroine Emma Harte’s life viewed through parallel timelines.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

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

Analysts currently have penciled in bottom-up earnings growth of more than 23%, according to FactSet analysts.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

Television turns out to be powerful because it so effectively plays the top-down and bottom-up attention systems against each other.

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