telegenic

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 20, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>telegenic</strong> &#149; \tel-uh-JEN-ik\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p>Someone or something described as <em>telegenic</em> is well-suited to the medium of television. <em>Telegenic</em> is often used to describe people whose appearance or manners are particularly attractive to television viewers.</p> <p>// Her favorite actor is so <em>telegenic</em> that he can make a bad series enjoyable.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telegenic">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“[Alison] Roman … learned at <em>Bon Appétit</em> that she was <em>telegenic</em>. She is the rare influencer who projects the same energy in person as she does on camera. Her wit and candor buoy the cooking video genre from informative to outright entertaining. Some of her fans comment that they tune in every week with no intention of making the recipes, just to watch Roman try to dislodge ingredients from her overstuffed refrigerator.” — Eliana Dockterman, <em>Time</em>, 19 Mar. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Telegenic</em> debuted in the 1930s, a melding of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/television"><em>television</em></a> with <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photogenic"><em>photogenic</em></a>, “suitable for being photographed especially because of visual appeal.” The word <em>photogenic</em> had other, more technical meanings before it developed that one in the early decades of the 20th century, but the modern meaning led to the use of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-genic"><em>-genic</em></a> of interest here: “suitable for production or reproduction by a given medium.” (That sense is also found in the rarer <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar