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

The Wide drops the telephoto entirely, running a dual 50MP main and 50MP ultrawide setup instead. — Janhoi McGregor, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

No detachable telephoto lenses, no camera bags, no tripods, mono-pods, selfie sticks. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 20 June 2026

Matching the outgoing phone, the new Edge has a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. — Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 2 June 2026

My favorite part of watching the Olympics was viewing the long telephoto lenses used by the photojournalists, and dreaming of one day owning one of those expensive lenses. — Shirl Leigh may 05, New Atlas, 5 May 2026

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