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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 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 ² 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 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

Etymology

Origin of plateau

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

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

Enicepatide also achieved mean weight loss of 15.5% after 48 weeks at the highest dose, without a plateau in weight reductions, the company added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 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

But if life expectancy has truly reached a plateau, therapies aimed at the biology of aging itself could become one of the paths scientists explore in an effort to push that limit higher.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

The northwestern part of Motte Rimrock Reserve, a biological field station on a rocky plateau managed by UC Riverside, also falls in an evacuation warning zone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Alcante had such a beautiful presence that he seemed like the guardian angel of the pavilion, but Farmer worried about what would happen when he returned to his home in the central plateau.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

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

On the Tibetan Plateau, dogs and humans even developed similar genetic solutions to life at high elevations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 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

But on the uncategorised final climb of Sunday's 183.9km stage from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison, he matched Pogacar for the first time on such parcours.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Goblin guards posted along the battlements were watching the Plateau of Drume with telescopic distance-eyes.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

At CERAWeek, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said providing new oil supply as shale plateaus is one of the industry’s big challenges.

From Barron's ● Mar. 28, 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 experiment revealed Shapiro steps, which are distinct voltage plateaus that appear at multiples of a driving frequency, just as they do in superconducting devices.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 23, 2025

A thick, dark green forest of oak and pine crowned pink-orange sand-rock plateaus that extended north and south beyond Nathan’s vision.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

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

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

The decision in question is the return of cattle to portions of the 646,000-hectare park, a landscape of deep ravines, high plateaux and snow gum trees.

From Nature ● Mar. 23, 2011

European fruits, flowers, and vegetables can be easily and largely cultivated on the highest plateaux of the Sierra Maestra.

From Cuba Past and Present by Richard Davey

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

The overall market value of stablecoins has plateaued of late, and is little changed from what it was last October, according to tracking by data provider DefiLlama.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 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

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

Interest in EVs could be plateauing in California, experts said, where adoption rates are higher than the rest of the country.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025

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

Related Words

• elevation
• highland
• plain