How to Use top-down in a Sentence

top-down

adjective
  • Gone are the days when leaders could set rigid, top-down goals.
    — Glenn Llopis, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2025
  • But top-down change is slow and often misses the mark.
    — Bob Coleman, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Start with a pilot, not top-down orders.
    — Andrei Cretu, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Sean will start off with our usual top-down look at the list itself.
    — Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Two first-round draft picks are nice and so is top-down leadership.
    — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2026
  • But this is completely top-down.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2026
  • But Boss isn’t purely top-down driven.
    — Jeff Marks, CNBC, 27 Oct. 2025
  • These tools didn't enter through a top-down deployment plan.
    — Joseph Freed, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The future of high-performing teams isn’t built top-down.
    — Susan Curtin, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025
  • It was filled with top-down mandates that override the voices of our towns and cities.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 23 June 2025
  • Please consider a free trial to access our top-down views and more stock ideas.
    — Katie Stockton, CNBC, 23 June 2025
  • Instead of a third-person action stealth game, this one is at a top-down angle.
    — George Yang, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
  • But some of it was informed by strategic top-down directives.
    — Mick Ryan, Foreign Affairs, 5 Feb. 2024
  • Letting people say, not just top-down, but get the people themselves.
    — Quanta Magazine, 10 July 2025
  • That should start top-down, with management that leads by example.
    — Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2024
  • Trump is more of a top-down negotiator who likes the broad strokes of a deal to be worked ahead of the fine print.
    — Tobias Burns, The Hill, 2 July 2025
  • Just another way the business isn’t top-down anymore.
    — Julian Sancton, HollywoodReporter, 22 Dec. 2025
  • The jury saw photos and video of the scene, including one gory top-down photo.
    — John Annese, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2026
  • This is a top-down shipwreck that touches every part of a losing franchise.
    — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
  • That quest has become an own-goal, exposing the limits of his top-down control.
    — Chun Han Wong, WSJ, 2 Mar. 2023
  • Blindspot is a top-down tactical shooter in which teams of five players face off against each other.
    — Kristan Hawkins, Newsweek, 7 Feb. 2025
  • That’s a brash top-down directive that has taken hold of businesses.
    — Cerys Goodall, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • Critics warned that the measure would lead to a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to mental health care in the state.
    — Vik Jolly, Sacramento Bee, 15 May 2024
  • And it won’t be solved by job descriptions, dashboards, or top-down messaging.
    — Nirit Cohen, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Stone says the old top-down, power-shower approach doesn't work anymore and isn't going to work.
    — Jon Stojan, USA TODAY, 20 July 2023
  • The former fits a top-down drive, while the latter gives off a nighttime, moody, rainy-day vibe, Clardy said.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Falling back on the old, top-down way of doing things won't fix the problem, Reisinger argues.
    — Nick Rockel, Fortune, 24 May 2024
  • Rebellion spread more through graffiti, chants, and songs than through top-down orders.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Of course, top-down influences contribute to their success rate.
    — Katie Stockton, CNBC, 25 May 2026
  • Dip the apples top-down into the candy melts, set them on wax paper, and cover them with sprinkles.
    — Kimberly Stoney, Parents, 19 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'top-down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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