=== Closer Is Better Whereas a phrase query simply excludes documents that don't contain the exact query phrase, a _proximity query_&#x2014;a ((("proximity matching", "proximity queries")))((("slop parameter", "proximity queries and")))phrase query where `slop` is greater than `0`&#x2014;incorporates the proximity of the query terms into the final relevance `_score`. By setting a high `slop` value like `50` or `100`, you can exclude documents in which the words are really too far apart, but give a higher score to documents in which the words are closer together. The following proximity query for `quick dog` matches both documents that contain the words `quick` and `dog`, but gives a higher score to the document((("relevance scores", "for proximity queries"))) in which the words are nearer to each other: [source,js] -------------------------------------------------- POST /my_index/my_type/_search { "query": { "match_phrase": { "title": { "query": "quick dog", "slop": 50 <1> } } } } -------------------------------------------------- // SENSE: 120_Proximity_Matching/20_Scoring.json <1> Note the high `slop` value. [source,js] -------------------------------------------------- { "hits": [ { "_id": "3", "_score": 0.75, <1> "_source": { "title": "The quick brown fox jumps over the quick dog" } }, { "_id": "2", "_score": 0.28347334, <2> "_source": { "title": "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" } } ] } -------------------------------------------------- <1> Higher score because `quick` and `dog` are close together <2> Lower score because `quick` and `dog` are further apart