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
From the top-down, these increasingly nuanced measurements can appear to be aligned with the scope of a team.
—
Chris Novak, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2025
Centralized systems can turn top-down directives into rapid, large-scale build-out.
—William Burke-White, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
Unlike the Olmec centers of San Lorenzo and La Venta, early Maya sites show no signs of top-down power.
—New Atlas, 14 Nov. 2025
An Updown girl buried with adornments befitting the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon elite had a sub-Saharan African grandparent, and the Slavicization of Eurasia was the result of east-to-west migration rather than of top-down imposition by Slavic elites.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for top-down
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Chris Novak, Fortune, 27 Nov. 2025
Centralized systems can turn top-down directives into rapid, large-scale build-out.
—William Burke-White, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
Unlike the Olmec centers of San Lorenzo and La Venta, early Maya sites show no signs of top-down power.
—New Atlas, 14 Nov. 2025
An Updown girl buried with adornments befitting the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon elite had a sub-Saharan African grandparent, and the Slavicization of Eurasia was the result of east-to-west migration rather than of top-down imposition by Slavic elites.
—Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for top-down
Cite this Entry
“Top-down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/top-down. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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