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• plateau
  plateau

  noun

  a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.
• Plateau
  Plateau

  noun

  a state of central Nigeria, formed in 1976 from part of Benue-Plateau State: tin mining. Capital: Jos. Pop: 3 178 712 (2006). Area: 30 913 sq km (11 936 sq miles)

plateau

American  

[pla-toh, plat-oh] / plæˈtoʊ, ˈplæt oʊ /

noun

• plateaus,
  plural
• plateaux
  plural

1. 

   a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons.

2. a period or state of little or no growth or decline.

   to reach a plateau in one's career.

3. Psychology. a period of little or no apparent progress in an individual's learning, marked by an inability to increase speed, reduce number of errors, etc., and indicated by a horizontal stretch in a learning curve or graph.

4. a flat stand, as for a centerpiece, sometimes extending the full length of a table.

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verb (used without object)

plateaued, plateauing

1. to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, especially to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off.

   After a period of uninterrupted growth, sales began to plateau.

verb (used with object)

plateaued, plateauing

1. to cause to remain at a stable level, especially to prevent from rising or progressing.

   Rising inflation plateaued sales income.

Plateau ¹ British  

/ ˈplætəʊ /

noun

1. a state of central Nigeria, formed in 1976 from part of Benue-Plateau State: tin mining. Capital: Jos. Pop: 3 178 712 (2006). Area: 30 913 sq km (11 936 sq miles)

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plateau ² British  

/ ˈplætəʊ /

noun

1. a wide mainly level area of elevated land

2. a relatively long period of stability; levelling off

   the rising prices reached a plateau

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verb

1. to remain at a stable level for a relatively long period

plateau Scientific  

/ plă-tō′ /

1. An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land. Plateaus make up about 45 percent of the Earth's land surface.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• plateaus
  plural
• plateaux
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of plateau

1785–95; < French; Old French platel flat object, diminutive of plat plate ¹

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Explanation

A plateau is a high, flat area of land. The word has also been stretched to include a leveling off of progress. At first the children at the sleepover were running wild, but then their energy level reached a plateau. You can see the word plate inside plateau. Think flat like a plate, or think about mountains that look like tables you could set with plates — so flat the plates won't fall off. If you're a French speaker, this will be easier, as plateau derives from the French plat, "level."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plateau Plateau plateaus plateaux plateaued plateauing

He added that the company remains reliant on a subscription business that could be approaching a plateau.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Home sales in September rose for the first time since May, with buyers taking advantage of a plateau in mortgage rates over the summer before the surge in recent weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

But Chatfield eventually hit a spiritual plateau that organized religion couldn’t fill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

The pair saw the quality of smartphone cameras reaching a plateau and wanted to find a novel way to improve them, using both hardware and software.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

At the far end of the plateau boys had climbed into the trees.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

The flash flood, which began about 2:30 pm on Saturday, was caused by rainfall on the Kaibab Plateau, it said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

Alex, 37, said selling her jewellery at the Christmas market on St George's Plateau for the past five years had been a "really great place to be".

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

He thinks that companies have skipped to the next phase of the cycle, the Slope of Enlightenment, which is the step that occurs before the Plateau of Productivity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The analysis also uncovered both genetic and cultural links to Yangshao Culture, a major Neolithic civilization that developed across the Loess Plateau near the Yellow River.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

I had imagined the Gobrin Ice Plateau to be all one sheet like a frozen pond, but there were hundreds of miles of it that were rather like an abruptly frozen, storm-raised sea.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Oceanic plateaus are enormous elevated regions of seafloor formed by the eruption of vast quantities of lava.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026

There are strange choices, plateaus and unnecessary dramas, but now there is a mettle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

Not with another four years on his contract, a current buyout price of $22.5 million and now a not-terrible finish to this strange season of all peaks and valleys and no plateaus.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2026

“Free cash flow per share grows even as revenue plateaus or declines slightly. The companies that execute this transition well are going to emerge as leaner, more profitable versions of themselves,” he says.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026

The Taklamakan and its buried cities gave way to the western high plateaus where the ground hardened into clay, and gorges had been cut into the rock shelves.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Connecting the realms, Martine sells crepes in the summer to members of the communes, who venture down from their fields and plateaux for this staple of French cuisine.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2023

Currently, it expects wage growth to plateaux around 3.9% late next year and into 2024.

From Reuters ● Nov. 16, 2022

As to the poets who made it into Dear World, there are predictable highs, plateaux and crescendi.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 12, 2013

But with the new edition opening to just $21.5 million — less than either of the previous sequels, in real or inflated dollars — it will have trouble reaching those plateaux.

From Time ● Apr. 8, 2012

It was the journey's end, yet such is the magic charm of Asia that I would willingly have turned back at that moment to the snowy plateaux of Armenia and the savage mountains of Kurdistan.

From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume II (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy) Bird

In some sports, including Premier League football, the money which leagues and clubs are earning from TV rights is by far their biggest source of income, but has plateaued to an extent in recent years.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

It made sense for his family at the time because his wife’s business was growing, while he felt his career in content marketing had plateaued.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

And that has happened even as Tesla's car production numbers have plateaued.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Chinese tech giant Huawei's revenue growth slowed last year, its annual report showed Tuesday, as sales of the company's consumer devices plateaued against a backdrop of sluggish domestic consumption.

From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026

My stock plummeted, and by high school, it plateaued.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

Experts say that doctors should be able to offer treatment when other symptoms are present, such as plateauing pregnancy hormone levels, bleeding and abdominal pain.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

With repetition, they got faster until plateauing, which he thinks was when the sorting task became automated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Ember is confident that emissions from using fossil fuels to generate electricity are now plateauing and could begin a permanent decline in a few years.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025

The previously maligned ADP gauge has confirmed the plateauing of payrolls outside the government sector.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025

Tesla shares have fallen more than 16% this year following a series of setbacks for the company, including brand damage and plateauing interest in electric vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025

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Related Words

• elevation
• highland
• plain

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