Which to use
“plateau” and “plateaus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,830
- “plateau” frequency rank
- #43,849
- “plateaus” frequency rank
- 56679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plateau | plateaus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A largely level expanse of land at a high elevation; tableland. | plural of plateau |
Where the eye mixes plateau and plateaus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. plateau runs 7 letters (CCVCVVV) against plateaus's 8 (CCVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: plateau vs plateaus
A purely visual mix-up. plateau (/ˈplætəʊ/) and plateaus (/plæˈtoʊ(z)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “plateau” sits inside “plateaus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plateau is recorded at frequency rank #12,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈplætəʊ/. plateaus is at rank #43,849, tagged as anoun, pronounced /plæˈtoʊ(z)/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 56679, this pair ranks #124,481 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plateau vs plateaus
Shared letters: aelptu. Private to "plateau": -. Private to "plateaus": s.
"plateau" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVV · "plateaus" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plateau" and "plateaus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "plateau" vs "plateaus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "plateau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plateaus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,481 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plateau" and "plateaus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plateaus vs platypus". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #124,481 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.