telephoto

1 of 3

adjective

tele·​pho·​to ˌte-lə-ˈfō-(ˌ)tō 

: being a camera lens system designed to give a large image of a distant object

also : relating to or being photography in which a telephoto lens is used

telephoto

2 of 3

noun

plural telephotos

1

: a telephoto lens

2

: a photograph taken with a camera having a telephoto lens

Telephoto

3 of 3

trademark

—used for an apparatus for transmitting photographs electrically or for a photograph so transmitted

Examples of telephoto in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Pixel 10 Camera: Telephoto Lens Added, But At What Cost? Until now, Google has reserved telephoto lenses for its Pixel Pro and Pro Fold smartphones only, equipping its standard Pixel models with just two cameras at the rear. —Paul Monckton, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025

The rest of the specs are solid and close to flagship, with a triple lens camera (50-megapixel main, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and 12-megapixel periscope telephoto), fairly large 5,600 mAh battery, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage. —Simon Hill, WIRED, 5 Mar. 2025

The 3x telephoto's palette matches the main shooter with good contrast and realistic color. —PC Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025

There are currently two 48-megapixel cameras and one 12-megapixel sensor, the telephoto. —David Phelan, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1893, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1894, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing telephoto

• telephoto lens

Rhymes for telephoto

• hashimoto
• doto
• koto
• moto
• roto
• toto

Kids Definition

telephoto

adjective

tele·​pho·​to

ˌtel-ə-ˈfōt-ō

: being a camera lens designed to give a large image of a distant object