Meaning & use
plateau
A large area of flat, elevated land, or a period when progress stops after earlier improvement.
See it in a sentence
The hikers reached a wide plateau overlooking the valley below.
After months of steady gains, her weight loss hit a plateau that lasted weeks.
A note on using this word
The figurative sense, describing a stall in progress, is now at least as common as the original geographic meaning.
Words with a similar meaning
tablelandplain
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. verb
To stop increasing or improving after a period of growth.
Sales plateaued in the third quarter after two years of steady growth.
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