diff --git a/search/src/jvmMain/kotlin/io/github/kdroidfilter/seforimlibrary/search/LuceneSearchEngine.kt b/search/src/jvmMain/kotlin/io/github/kdroidfilter/seforimlibrary/search/LuceneSearchEngine.kt
index bb21b9eb..68c867a9 100644
--- a/search/src/jvmMain/kotlin/io/github/kdroidfilter/seforimlibrary/search/LuceneSearchEngine.kt
+++ b/search/src/jvmMain/kotlin/io/github/kdroidfilter/seforimlibrary/search/LuceneSearchEngine.kt
@@ -51,6 +51,14 @@ import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger
 private val logger = Logger.withTag("LuceneSearchEngine")
 // Hard cap on how many synonym/expansion terms we allow per token
 private const val MAX_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN: Int = 32
+
+// The forms of all a query's tokens together, per clause that lists them (the presence filter and each phrase query):
+// a long query gets fewer forms per token, or it overflows Lucene's 1024-clause limit (TooManyNestedClauses)
+private const val SYNONYM_TERMS_BUDGET: Int = 160
+private const val MIN_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN: Int = 4
+
+// Room for a long query's synonym boosts, beyond Lucene's default 1024 clauses
+private const val MAX_QUERY_CLAUSES: Int = 4096
 // Global cap for boost queries built from dictionary expansions
 private const val MAX_SYNONYM_BOOST_TERMS: Int = 256
 // Constants for snippet source building (must match indexer)
@@ -170,6 +178,11 @@ class LuceneSearchEngine(
     private val dictionaryPath: Path? = null
 ) : SearchEngine {
 
+    init {
+        // A long query's synonym boosts (up to 256 forms of each kind) overflow Lucene's default 1024 clauses: room for them
+        if (IndexSearcher.getMaxClauseCount() < MAX_QUERY_CLAUSES) IndexSearcher.setMaxClauseCount(MAX_QUERY_CLAUSES)
+    }
+
     // Open Lucene directory lazily to avoid any I/O at app startup.
     // GraalVM native image does not support MMapDirectory (Panama foreign downcalls), use NIOFSDirectory instead.
     private val dir by lazy {
@@ -895,7 +908,7 @@ class LuceneSearchEngine(
         val outer = BooleanQuery.Builder()
         for (t in tokens) {
             val expansions = expansionsByToken[t] ?: emptyList()
-            val synonymTerms = buildLimitedTermsForToken(t, expansions)
+            val synonymTerms = buildLimitedTermsForToken(t, expansions, synonymTermsPerToken(tokens.size))
             val ngram = if (near > 0) buildNgramPresenceForToken(t) else null
             val clause = BooleanQuery.Builder().apply {
                 add(TermQuery(Term("text", t)), BooleanClause.Occur.SHOULD)
@@ -1111,9 +1124,14 @@ class LuceneSearchEngine(
         return b.build()
     }
 
+    /** How many forms each of [tokenCount] tokens may bring: all of them up to five tokens, fewer beyond. */
+    private fun synonymTermsPerToken(tokenCount: Int): Int =
+        (SYNONYM_TERMS_BUDGET / tokenCount.coerceAtLeast(1)).coerceIn(MIN_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN, MAX_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN)
+
     private fun buildLimitedTermsForToken(
         token: String,
-        expansions: List<MagicDictionaryIndex.Expansion>
+        expansions: List<MagicDictionaryIndex.Expansion>,
+        cap: Int = MAX_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN,
     ): List<String> {
         if (expansions.isEmpty()) return listOf(token)
 
@@ -1128,7 +1146,7 @@ class LuceneSearchEngine(
         otherTerms.forEach { ordered += it }
 
         val totalSize = ordered.size
-        val limited = ordered.take(MAX_SYNONYM_TERMS_PER_TOKEN)
+        val limited = ordered.take(cap)
         if (totalSize > limited.size) {
             logger.d {
                 "[DEBUG] Capped synonym terms for token '$token' from $totalSize to ${limited.size}"
@@ -1144,7 +1162,7 @@ class LuceneSearchEngine(
         if (tokens.isEmpty()) return emptyList()
         return tokens.map { token ->
             val expansions = expansionsByToken[token] ?: emptyList()
-            buildLimitedTermsForToken(token, expansions)
+            buildLimitedTermsForToken(token, expansions, synonymTermsPerToken(tokens.size))
         }
     }