telephoto
adjective
noting or pertaining to telephotography.
telephoto
1 American
[tel-uh-foh-toh]
/ ˈtɛl əˌfoʊ toʊ /
adjective
Telephoto
2
American
[tel-uh-foh-toh]
/ ˈtɛl əˌfoʊ toʊ /
Trademark.
-
a brand of apparatus for electrical transmission of photographs.
-
a photograph transmitted by this apparatus.
Etymology
Origin of telephoto
1890–95; short for telephotographic; see telephotograph, -ic
Vocabulary lists containing telephoto
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s hard to imagine a riskier trek, but he managed to pull it off, traveling through cities and towns with a telephoto lens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
Prof Edyvane trained them on surveying methods and hired professionals to teach them how to use telephoto cameras and drones so that they could conduct aerial and boat surveys.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2024
Sometimes she was using a short lens when she should have been using a telephoto lens and vice versa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
The latest phones offer multiple lenses with better resolution and enhanced macro and telephoto capabilities, enabling virtually every moment to be captured for posterity.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2023
While Mr. Das adjusted his telephoto lens, Mrs. Das reached into her straw bag and pulled out a bottle of colorless nail polish, which she proceeded to stroke on the tip of her index finger.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Main: 48-megapixels f/1.8 with OIS Ultrawide: 50-megapixel f/2.2 Telephoto: 8-megapixel f/2.4 with OIS Front: 32-megapixel, fixed focus This isn’t exactly the same camera system as last year, and there are some software-based improvements.
From The Verge ● Apr. 5, 2022
The researchers found Dragonfly-2 using the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, an instrument designed to observe large and extremely faint objects in the night sky.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 22, 2021
Telephoto lenses are folded into periscopes that run along the lengths of the phone for even longer zooms.
From The Verge ● Sep. 14, 2021
Undeterred, he hired a photographer to shoot a show with a Telephoto lens from a rooftop across the street.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2015
Olear finally consented to speak a few words for the Telephoto News Co.
From Astounding Stories, June, 1931 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
