MEANING
Proceeding from local parts, specific observations, or lower-level participants toward a larger system or general account.
Use it for
describing explanations built from detailed observations; analyzing policy developed from local participation; distinguishing local contributions from centrally imposed plansDescribes organization or explanation built from local contributions or specific observations. Academic functions: Theory / Conceptual Language.
Words that belong together
- a bottom-up approach
- bottom-up analysis
- bottom-up initiatives
On the page
The study develops a bottom-up account from the patterns found in individual cases.
Bottom-up initiatives shaped the proposal before the central authority adopted it.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- bottom-up
Usage notes
Usually before a noun. Hyphenate the adjective: a bottom-up approach. Bottom up as an adverbial spelling is not a separate canonical headword. No ordinary comparative or superlative. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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