Techniques are disclosed relating to scoring partial matches between words. In certain embodiments, a method may include receiving a request to determine a similarity between an input text data and a stored text data. The method also includes determining, based on comparing one or more words included in the input text data with one or more words included in the stored text data, a set of word pairs and a set of unpaired words. Further, in response to determining that the set of unpaired words passes elimination criteria, the method includes calculating a base similarity score between the input text data and the stored text data based on the set of word pairs. The method also includes determining a scoring penalty based on the set of unpaired words and generating a final similarity score between the input text data and the stored text data by modifying the base similarity score based on the scoring penalty.