telegenic

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The Word of the Day for July 17 is:

telegenic   \tel-uh-JEN-ik\   adjective 
     : well-suited to the medium of television; especially : having an 
appearance and manner that are markedly attractive to television viewers 

Example sentence:
     The advertising agency is always on the lookout for telegenic people for 
its commercials.

Did you know?
     "Telegenic," which first appeared in print in 1939, is essentially a 
compound formed out of "television" and "photogenic." "Photogenic" is also the 
word that caused the addition of a new sense to "-genic," namely "suitable for 
production or reproduction by a given medium" (as in the occasionally seen 
"videogenic": "The '80s were a time that created a lot of videogenic bands who 
weren't necessarily compelling live artists...." -- Ron Shapiro, quoted in 
_Entertainment Weekly_, September 25, 1998). "Telegenic" may seem like a word 
that would primarily refer to people, but there is evidence for telegenic 
events (such as popular sports), objects, and responses. Occasionally, one even 
sees reference to a telegenic attitude or other intangible.