Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PLATEAU

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pronounce PLATEAU: Say it "plat OH." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: As we check out the word plateau today, let's recall a couple of other terms that also use geography as a metaphor: 1. Something an_____al to something else is totally opposite to it, as if it's standing on the opposite side of the earth. 2. German for "behind land," the h_____and is the back country: the land beyond cities and towns; or figuratively, the distant, unknown area of anything. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: Like you'd guess from its spelling, our word "plateau" came through French, where it literally means "table-land." And if you trace "plateau" further back into Vulgar Latin or Greek, you see how it's probably related to words like "plate," "platter," and "platform." In English, literally speaking, a plateau is a large, flat area of land that's surrounded by mountains or by steep slopes. From Britannica, here's the Columbia Plateau: We also refer to flat parts of line graphs as plateaus: As you can see, when the line hits a plateau, there's no progress anymore. That brings us to the figurative sense of the word: a plateau is a situation, or a period of time, when things are staying about the same instead of getting better or worse. And if things plateau, they stay the same instead of continuing to change, improve, or worsen. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Both a noun ("They hit a plateau") and a verb ("After a few weeks, they plateaued"). Other forms:  Plateaued, plateauing.  The plural is simply "plateaus." There's also a fancy French plural, "plateaux," pronounced the same. In my view, there's no reason to write "plateaux" in English with a straight face. how to use it: Pick the formal, semi-common word "plateau" when you want to emphasize how, after lots of changes or progress, things have suddenly become stuck at the same spot. All kinds of things can plateau, or hit or reach a plateau: grades, sales, skills, strength, energy, careers, relationships, illnesses, social reform, births, deaths, etc. examples: "As smartphone sales plateau, Apple is increasingly looking to subscription services like Apple News+ and Apple TV+ to fuel growth."     — James Vincent, The Verge, 14 November 2020 "I've been told I have a slowly progressing type of A.L.S., which is giving me hope... Some people live two years, five years, decades — some even plateau and live many, many years, like Stephen Hawking."    — Rebecca Luker, as quoted by Sarah Bahr, New York Times, 15 June 2020 has this page helped you understand "plateau"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "plateau" without saying "flatten out" or "period of no progress." try it out: Talk about a time you reached a frustrating plateau. Maybe it was at work, at school, or in one of your sports, hobbies, or relationships. Before hitting that plateau, what kind of progress had you been making? What was beyond the plateau that you were trying to reach? Did you stay stuck on that plateau, or did you rise above it? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for October is "Silly Smashings!" In each issue this month, I'll give you the definition of a word I've concocted by smashing together two words we've studied before. See if you can come up with the same silly smashing that I did. For example, I'll say, "This noun means 'an extremely outdated, old-fashioned, ill-considered assumption that there are only two ways of dealing with a certain problem.'" And you'll say, "That's a troglodichotomy." (Which is a silly smashing of troglodyte and dichotomy.) I'll list the answer at the bottom of each issue. Maybe your answer will match mine. Or maybe yours will be even better; if so, be sure to share it with me! Try this one today: This two-word noun phrase means "the speed and ease with which, despite our best intentions to be empathetic and kind, we descend into laughing at other people for their misfortunes when we feel they deserve them." (For example: when another driver speeds recklessly around us, then we see them getting pulled over by a cop, and we burst out laughing.) review this word: 1. A near opposite of TO PLATEAU is A. TO MAKE WAVES. B. TO MAKE STRIDES. C. TO MAKE AMENDS. 2. In the New York Times, Brad Stulberg wrote: "Weight lifting, like so much in life, demands showing up day in and day out, taking small and incremental steps that, compounded over time, lead to big gains. _____, there will be plateaus." A. As a result B. If you're lucky C. Whether you like it or not Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C Answer to the game question: Facilis deschadenfreude. That's a silly smashing of facilis descensus and Schadenfreude. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.