paralegal
/ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩/
"paralegal" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paralegal” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,471. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #39,471
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who assists a lawyer in routine legal work, but who is without qualified status as a solicitor or barrister (England and Wales), attorney (U.S.), or advocate; known more commonly in the U.S. as...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paralegal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #39,471 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paralegal” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around paralegal (IPA /ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,471 among 46,516 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "One who assists a lawyer in routine legal work, but who is without qualified status as a solicitor or barrister (England and Wales), attorney (U.S.), or advocate; known more commonly in the U.S. as...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for paralegal, with forms such as "apralegal", "paarlegal", and "paraelgal". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From para- + legal. The correct English form is paralegal, spelled P-A-R-A-L-E-G-A-L.
Definition
- 1One who assists a lawyer in routine legal work, but who is without qualified status as a solicitor or barrister (England and Wales), attorney (U.S.), or advocate; known more commonly in the U.S. as a legal assistant.
Etymology
From para- + legal.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- apralegal
- paarlegal
- paraelgal
- paraleagl
- paralegall
- paraleggal
- paralegla
- paralgeal
- parallegal
- parlaegal
- parralegal
- pparalegal
- praalegal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of paralegal - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "paralegal"?
What does "paralegal" mean?
What are common misspellings of "paralegal"?
How do you pronounce "paralegal"?
What is the origin of the word "paralegal"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “paralegal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-A-L-E-G-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.