diff --git a/web/templates/entry_view.html b/web/templates/entry_view.html
index 4962f50..1101845 100644
--- a/web/templates/entry_view.html
+++ b/web/templates/entry_view.html
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
 }
 </script>
 
-<!-- Highlighter: apply to ALL fields; for Subjects, color the whole chip instead of inline marks -->
+<!-- Highlighter: apply to ALL fields; for Subjects, color the whole chip; highlight WHOLE WORDS -->
 <script>
 (function(){
   // Target EVERY field we render on entry_view
@@ -556,47 +556,79 @@ function showToast(message, duration = 3000) {
     return out;
   }
 
-  function escapeRegExp(str) {
-    return str.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&");
+  function makeWordRegex() {
+    // Prefer full Unicode word matching (letters + marks + numbers + ' and -)
+    try {
+      return new RegExp("(\\p{L}[\\p{L}\\p{M}\\p{N}'-]*|\\d+)", "gu");
+    } catch (_) {
+      // Fallback for older browsers: best-effort ASCII-ish words
+      return /([A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9'-]*|\d+)/g;
+    }
   }
 
   function highlightAll(root, needle) {
     if (!needle) return;
-    const re = new RegExp(escapeRegExp(needle), "gi");
+    const needleLower = needle.toLowerCase();
 
     // Special handling for SUBJECT chips: color the whole chip, no <mark> injection
     if (root.id === "subject-list") {
       root.querySelectorAll(".chip-subject, .chip-muted").forEach(chip => {
-        if (re.test(chip.textContent || "")) {
+        if ((chip.textContent || "").toLowerCase().includes(needleLower)) {
           chip.classList.add("chip-hit");
         }
       });
       return; // do not inject <mark> inside subject chips
     }
 
-    // Normal inline highlighting for text fields
     const nodes = [];
     const walker = document.createTreeWalker(root, NodeFilter.SHOW_TEXT, null, false);
     while (walker.nextNode()) nodes.push(walker.currentNode);
 
+    const wordRe = makeWordRegex();
+
     for (const textNode of nodes) {
       const text = textNode.nodeValue;
-      if (!text || !re.test(text)) continue;
+      if (!text) continue;
+
+      // Fast skip: if token not present anywhere (case-insensitive), skip this node
+      if (!text.toLowerCase().includes(needleLower)) continue;
 
       const frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
       let lastIndex = 0;
-      text.replace(re, (m, idx) => {
-        if (idx > lastIndex) frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text.slice(lastIndex, idx)));
-        const mark = document.createElement("mark");
-        mark.className = "mark-hit"; // uses your peach highlight
-        mark.textContent = m;
-        frag.appendChild(mark);
-        lastIndex = idx + m.length;
-        return m;
-      });
-      if (lastIndex < text.length) frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text.slice(lastIndex)));
+      wordRe.lastIndex = 0;
+      let m;
 
-      if (textNode.parentNode) textNode.parentNode.replaceChild(frag, textNode);
+      while ((m = wordRe.exec(text)) !== null) {
+        const start = m.index;
+        const end = start + m[0].length;
+
+        // Append any non-word separator text before this word
+        if (start > lastIndex) {
+          frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text.slice(lastIndex, start)));
+        }
+
+        const word = m[0];
+        if (word.toLowerCase().includes(needleLower)) {
+          // Highlight the ENTIRE word
+          const mark = document.createElement("mark");
+          mark.className = "mark-hit";
+          mark.textContent = word;
+          frag.appendChild(mark);
+        } else {
+          frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(word));
+        }
+
+        lastIndex = end;
+      }
+
+      // Remainder after the last word
+      if (lastIndex < text.length) {
+        frag.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text.slice(lastIndex)));
+      }
+
+      if (textNode.parentNode) {
+        textNode.parentNode.replaceChild(frag, textNode);
+      }
     }
   }
 })();