Synonyms

telephoto

¹ American

[tel-uh-foh-toh] / ˈtɛl əˌfoʊ toʊ /

adjective

noting or pertaining to telephotography.

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

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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.

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

But they set aside for me this new camera she owned with a telephoto lens.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 29, 2023

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023