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Update synonyms documentation for Meilisearch #3579

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Update synonyms documentation for Meilisearch #3579

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15 changes: 14 additions & 1 deletion capabilities/full_text_search/relevancy/synonyms.mdx
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Expand Up @@ -170,7 +170,20 @@ Suppose you set `San Francisco` and `SF` as synonyms with a [mutual association]

</CodeGroup>

If you input `SF` as a search query, Meilisearch will also return results containing the phrase `San Francisco`. However, depending on the ranking rules, they might be considered less [relevant](/capabilities/full_text_search/relevancy/relevancy) than those containing `SF`. The reverse is also true: if your query is `San Francisco`, documents containing `San Francisco` may rank higher than those containing `SF`.
If you input `SF` as a search query, Meilisearch will also return results containing the phrase `San Francisco`.

@CaroFG CaroFG Jun 9, 2026

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@CaroFG CaroFG Jun 9, 2026

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@CaroFG CaroFG Jun 9, 2026

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However, depending on the ranking rules, they might be considered less [relevant](/capabilities/full_text_search/relevancy/relevancy) than those containing `SF`. The reverse is also true: if your query is `San Francisco`, documents containing `San Francisco` may rank higher than those containing `SF`.

## Synonym term length limitation

Meilisearch only fetches synonyms for search terms that are between 1 and 3 words. Terms with 4 or more words will not return any synonym matches.

For example, if you set `"lord of the rings"` as a synonym for `"lotr"`, searching for `"lotr"` will return documents containing `"lord of the rings"`. However, if you search for `"lord of the rings"`, Meilisearch will not return documents containing `"lotr"` because the search term has more than 3 words.

This limitation applies regardless of how you configure your synonyms. To work around this, consider using shorter synonym terms or breaking longer phrases into multiple single-word synonyms.

@CaroFG CaroFG Jun 9, 2026

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This limitation applies regardless of how you configure your synonyms. To work around this, consider using shorter synonym terms or breaking longer phrases into multiple single-word synonyms.

The workaround as written would lead to odd configurations like mapping 'of the ring' → 'lotr', which isn't really meaningful. Also, breaking "lord of the rings" into lord, rings etc. as synonyms for 'lotr' would match completely unrelated documents.

@Kerollmops Kerollmops Jun 15, 2026

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I agree with you. I would prefer not to propose workarounds for now. I'll work on the synonyms storage this week if I have time, and maybe improve the situation around this limitation.



## Maximum number of synonyms per term

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