telegenicadj.
/ˌtɛlᵻˈdʒɛnɪk/, U.S. /ˌtɛləˈdʒɛnɪk/ Originally U.S.
Of a person or thing: that comes across well on television; that provides an interesting or attractive subject for television.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > broadcasting > television > [adjective] > suitable for television
televisible1932
televisable1935
telegenic1936
videogenic1944
1936 N.Y. Times 26 July ix. 10/2 They are said to have ‘telegenic’ faces, that is, they televise clearly.
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 16 Oct. 6/8 Judith Barrett, pretty and blonde actress, is the first Telegenic Girl to go on record. In other words she is the perfect type of beauty for television.
1950 New Yorker 26 Aug. 18/3 Korman has spent many hours in the WOR Television studios, experimenting with telegenic properties of various weaves and colors of cloth and styles of suits.
1960 News Chron. 15 July 4/5 He is certainly the most telegenic personality of our time—yet off camera he is shy.
1980 Times 7 Nov. 12/2 Conscious that jazz by itself is not very telegenic, producers compensate by building shiny sets.
2009 Sunday Mirror (Nexis) 8 Nov. 21 She [sc. Susan Boyle] said: ‘I saw this wee wifey with the mad hairdo and the bushy eyebrows and said, “Hmmm, not really telegenic”’.
Derivatives
ˌteleˈgenically adv.
ΚΠ
1940 N.Y. Times 10 Mar. xi. 12/6 Telegenically, the three who stood out were J. C. Nugent, Alison Skipworth, and Estelle Winwood, possibly because they were limned in so many close ups which revealed their features.
1976 Newsweek (Nexis) 19 July 36 Ford..was telegenically Presidential in a busy day of July 4 pomp.
2003 D. Tigerman Orion Protocol 1 They could only give a big thumbs-up and grinned telegenically before disappearing from media view.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1936