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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

We assumed, naively, that my husband’s salary would continue to increase, not that raises would be paused due to university budget concerns, and that once he got tenure, his earnings would essentially plateau.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Herodotus, writing around the same time as Euripides, described Medea’s final expedition to the Iranian plateau, and claimed it gave the Medes their name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

Scott and Stauring founded the humanitarian group iACT largely to respond to the crisis in Darfur, a semi-desert plateau in western Sudan that has known nothing but war this century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last week that talks had hit a "plateau", with little room for further concessions.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026

He walked the last incline holding the jiggeh awkwardly in front of him and set it down once he reached the broad plateau at the top.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

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

A Christmas market has taken place on St George's Plateau in Liverpool for a decade.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

The team studied a marine sediment core collected from International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1475 on the Agulhas Plateau, about 500 kilometers south of South Africa.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 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

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

Even after Gilead reported its “strongest year-over-year base business growth in more than a decade,” analysts questioned how long it would take until the growth in its HIV franchise plateaus due to competition.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

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

There was nothing but the wide expanse of flat desert, which reached toward the edge of the horizon, where massive sandstone plateaus stood that were as faint and round as orange clouds.

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

Behind them lay the desert maze, to the right and left, mountain ranges, high plateaux, mesas and buttes.

From The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze by Frank Gee Patchin

The optimal range was 5,000 to 7,500 steps daily, after which the effect plateaued.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

This trade has plateaued in size over the past couple of quarters but remains sizable, Brooks says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 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

The stock rallied from late 2023 to early 2025, but has plateaued since because investors are worried about how long the momentum could last.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

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

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

The argument wasn’t anything new, and it certainly wasn’t influenced by plateauing sales or consumer complaints.

From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026

At the same time, American production growth—a key shock absorber for high prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—appears to be plateauing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

“We are hoping to see some plateauing in the next few weeks, but there’s some delay in data due to recent holidays, so it will become clearer in the next week or so.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026

We see North America demand plateauing, but global demand for refined products continuing to rise 1-2% a year.

From Barron's ● Jan. 10, 2026

"There is also mounting evidence that the country's emissions are plateauing, with this year's levels expected to be lower than in 2024," said Li Shuo.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

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Related Words

• elevation
• highland
• plain

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