Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

telegenic

/ˌtɛləˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.60 in modern English

Syllables: tele-genic
IPA: /ˌtɛləˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/

12

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Having an appearance and exhibiting qualities thought to be attractive to television viewers.

adj

Example Sentences

"The young politician was very telegenic."
"Then again, TV politicking simply selects for politicians who are good at TV — charismatic-cool like Mr. Obama, provocative-hot like Mr. Trump — and being telegenic does not necessarily mean having good policy or judgment or decision-making instincts."

Etymology

From tele- + -genic, by analogy with photogenic.

Word Breakdown

Prefix: tele
Suffix: genic

Inflected Forms

more telegenic (comparative) most telegenic (superlative)

Derived Forms

telegenically telegenicity untelegenic

Phrases

face for television

Frequently Paired Words

face for television

Rhymes With

schizophrenic pathogenic photogenic hellenic anthropogenic carcinogenic transgenic hallucinogenic fenech splenic eugenic psychogenic

Questions

How do you pronounce telegenic?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌtɛləˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/.
What does telegenic mean?: Having an appearance and exhibiting qualities thought to be attractive to television viewers.
Where does telegenic come from?: From tele- + -genic, by analogy with photogenic.

How to pronounce telegenic

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “telegenic”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌtɛləˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “telegenic”.
Repeat and practice — Say “telegenic” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.