top-down

adjective

ˈtäp-ˈdau̇n 

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

Scholars like William Easterly have long argued that top-down aid systems tend toward bureaucracy and bloat, often misallocating funds or reacting slowly to dynamic local conditions. —Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025

New York’s benevolent liberalism of the Rockefeller years comes off as top-down benevolence, sociological benevolence, experience-free benevolence. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2025

State-building in this way also demanded greater participation and sacrifice from ordinary people than usually imagined in models of top-down state-building. —Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025

Unlike other projects that have been proposed over the years, Metropolitan Park is not a top-down, take it or leave it development project. —Tom Grech, New York Daily News, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from the phrase from the top down

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for top-down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown