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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

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

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 clinic provides its patients with state-of-the-art medical technology, including a blood bank that serves much of the central plateau, and a sophisticated lab.

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

Researchers reached their conclusions by examining ice cores collected from the Guliya Plateau in 1992 and 2015.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

While the largest absolute increases are expected in already vulnerable areas, including India's Garhwal and Kumaon regions and Nepal, the greatest relative increase is projected on the Tibetan Plateau.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

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

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

Or imagine a country where Renee’s doggedness is not the exception, but a cultural trait, embedded as deeply as the culture of honor in the Cumberland Plateau.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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

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

From Science Daily ● Jul. 18, 2026

Multiple employees were perfecting the already-perfect plateaus of bell peppers and apples in the produce section.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 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

She had been collecting these plants her entire life, and some of them were deliciously exotic: saffron from the high plateaus of Persia, rhubarb-currant from the Caucasus Mountains, and ginger from the Far East.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

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

Like the Orange Free State, the Transvaal is an elevated pastoral plateau, or series of plateaux, broken by low ranges of hills.

From The World and Its People: Book VII Views in Africa by Anna B. Badlam

Real disposable incomes in France have largely plateaued.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 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

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

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

With pandemic-era stimulus initiatives long forgotten, home prices plateauing, and investor portfolios pointing down, consumer sentiment has little reason to improve.

From Barron's ● Apr. 2, 2026

It has been a bumpy road for the electric vehicle market as declining federal support and plateauing public interest have eaten away at sales.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 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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