What does "paralegal" mean?

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 a legal assistant.

What is a synonym for "paralegal"?

Common synonyms include: legal assistant.

How do you pronounce "paralegal"?

Pronounced //ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩//.

Paralegal

//ˌpæɹəˈliːɡl̩// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
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 a legal assistant.
2
a person with specialized training who assists lawyers wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

legal assistant

Etymology

From para- + legal.

Related phrases

legal assistant

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.