Word.ws English Dictionary

reftel

reftel noun: a telegram referenced within another message; especially in the context of diplomatic cables.

Noun

reftel (plural reftels)

  1. (historical) A telegram referenced within another message; especially in the context of diplomatic cables.
    • Reftel was on my desk when I arrived in Saigon.2006, Marshall Brement, Day of the Dead: A Novel, Asphodel Press, →ISBN
    • Per reftel and other information, the Government of Israel (GOI) is concerned that Syria intends to imminently transfer SCUDD missiles to Hizballah in Lebanon.2011, Alexander Star, Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy, The New York Times Company, →ISBN

Forms of reftel

pluralreftels

Origin of reftel

Blend of referenced + telegram.

Questions about reftel

What does reftel mean?
Reftel means a telegram referenced within another message; especially in the context of diplomatic cables.
What part of speech is reftel?
Reftel is a noun.
What is the plural of reftel?
The plural of reftel is reftels.

Words near reftel in the dictionary

  1. refsheet
  2. refsheets
  3. Refsum disease
  4. Refsum's disease
  5. reft
  6. reftel
  7. refts
  8. refuck
  9. refucked
  10. refucking
  11. Refucklican

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reftel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “reftel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reftel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.