top-down
adjective
1
: controlled, directed, or instituted from the top level
a top-down corporate structure
2
: proceeding by breaking large general aspects (as of a problem) into smaller more detailed constituents : working from the general to the specific
top-down programming
top-down design
Examples of top-down in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Wellness Mistake 3: One-Sided Vision And Rigidity Some companies design wellness programs in a top-down manner, with leadership guessing what employees need rather than engaging them directly.
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Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
The scrappy and broadly rural culture of TikTok in India winnowed down into a more top-down influencer culture on those two platforms.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 18 Jan. 2025
Somehow, the fact that Jim Crow was itself a top-down, de-jure affair—Black people were not given a choice where to attend school or to sit on the bus—failed to register with Hurston.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
But hamstrung, now, by rigid and top-down directives that prioritize ideological conformity over practical solutions, local politicians are ill equipped to tackle the mounting pressures of fiscal insolvency and unemployment.
—Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
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Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
The scrappy and broadly rural culture of TikTok in India winnowed down into a more top-down influencer culture on those two platforms.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 18 Jan. 2025
Somehow, the fact that Jim Crow was itself a top-down, de-jure affair—Black people were not given a choice where to attend school or to sit on the bus—failed to register with Hurston.
—Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2025
But hamstrung, now, by rigid and top-down directives that prioritize ideological conformity over practical solutions, local politicians are ill equipped to tackle the mounting pressures of fiscal insolvency and unemployment.
—Jude Blanchette, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for top-down
Dictionary Entries Near top-down
Cite this Entry
“Top-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/top-down. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.
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