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
He experimented restlessly with technology, trying out telephoto pictures of Kanchenjunga.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025
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 biggest camera upgrade will come exclusively to the iPhone 15 Pro Max: an updated telephoto system with enhanced hardware zoom capabilities.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2023
Since you couldn’t use a telephoto lens underwater, he’d probably zoomed in and cropped the shot tighter.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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
Meanwhile, Moment’s signature Wide 18mm lens and Telephoto 58mm lens remain a favorite of reviewers across the internet.
From The Verge ● Jan. 28, 2020
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.
