diff --git a/milli/src/lib.rs b/milli/src/lib.rs
index 865195df5..a6601034b 100644
--- a/milli/src/lib.rs
+++ b/milli/src/lib.rs
@@ -100,6 +100,27 @@ pub fn absolute_from_relative_position(field_id: FieldId, relative: RelativePosi
     (field_id as u32) << 16 | (relative as u32)
 }
 
+/// Compute the "bucketed" absolute position from the field id and relative position in the field.
+///
+/// In a bucketed position, the accuracy of the relative position is reduced exponentially as it gets larger.
+pub fn bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(
+    field_id: FieldId,
+    relative: RelativePosition,
+) -> Position {
+    // The first few relative positions are kept intact.
+    if relative < 16 {
+        absolute_from_relative_position(field_id, relative)
+    } else if relative < 24 {
+        // Relative positions between 16 and 24 all become equal to 24
+        absolute_from_relative_position(field_id, 24)
+    } else {
+        // Then, groups of positions that have the same base-2 logarithm are reduced to
+        // the same relative position: the smallest power of 2 that is greater than them
+        let relative = (relative as f64).log2().ceil().exp2() as u16;
+        absolute_from_relative_position(field_id, relative)
+    }
+}
+
 /// Transform a raw obkv store into a JSON Object.
 pub fn obkv_to_json(
     displayed_fields: &[FieldId],
@@ -329,4 +350,51 @@ mod tests {
 
         assert_eq!(&actual, expected);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn bucketed_position() {
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 0), @"0");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 1), @"1");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 2), @"2");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 15), @"15");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 16), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 19), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 20), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 21), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 22), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 23), @"24");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 24), @"32");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 25), @"32");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 30), @"32");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 40), @"64");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 50), @"64");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 60), @"64");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 70), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 80), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 90), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 100), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 110), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 120), @"128");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 130), @"256");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 1000), @"1024");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 2000), @"2048");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 4000), @"4096");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 8000), @"8192");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 9000), @"16384");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 10_000), @"16384");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 65_500), @"65535");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(0, 65_535), @"65535");
+
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(1, 0), @"65536");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(1, 1), @"65537");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(1, 20), @"65560");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(1, 1000), @"66560");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(1, 65_535), @"131071");
+
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(2, 0), @"131072");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(2, 65_535), @"196607");
+
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(65_535, 0), @"4294901760");
+        insta::assert_debug_snapshot!(bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(65_535, 65_535), @"4294967295");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/milli/src/search/criteria/exactness.rs b/milli/src/search/criteria/exactness.rs
index b389a5d1e..d5ca0b8ea 100644
--- a/milli/src/search/criteria/exactness.rs
+++ b/milli/src/search/criteria/exactness.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ use crate::search::criteria::{
     InitialCandidates,
 };
 use crate::search::query_tree::{Operation, PrimitiveQueryPart};
-use crate::{absolute_from_relative_position, FieldId, Result};
+use crate::{
+    absolute_from_relative_position, bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position, FieldId, Result,
+};
 
 pub struct Exactness<'t> {
     ctx: &'t dyn Context<'t>,
@@ -285,30 +287,34 @@ fn attribute_start_with_docids(
 ) -> heed::Result<Vec<RoaringBitmap>> {
     let mut attribute_candidates_array = Vec::new();
     // start from attribute first position
-    let mut pos = absolute_from_relative_position(attribute_id, 0);
+    let mut relative_pos = 0;
     for part in query {
         use ExactQueryPart::*;
         match part {
             Synonyms(synonyms) => {
+                let bucketed_position =
+                    bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(attribute_id, relative_pos);
                 let mut synonyms_candidates = RoaringBitmap::new();
                 for word in synonyms {
-                    let wc = ctx.word_position_docids(word, pos)?;
+                    let wc = ctx.word_position_docids(word, bucketed_position)?;
                     if let Some(word_candidates) = wc {
                         synonyms_candidates |= word_candidates;
                     }
                 }
                 attribute_candidates_array.push(synonyms_candidates);
-                pos += 1;
+                relative_pos += 1;
             }
             Phrase(phrase) => {
                 for word in phrase {
+                    let bucketed_position =
+                        bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(attribute_id, relative_pos);
                     if let Some(word) = word {
-                        let wc = ctx.word_position_docids(word, pos)?;
+                        let wc = ctx.word_position_docids(word, bucketed_position)?;
                         if let Some(word_candidates) = wc {
                             attribute_candidates_array.push(word_candidates);
                         }
                     }
-                    pos += 1;
+                    relative_pos += 1;
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_word_position_docids.rs b/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_word_position_docids.rs
index d95db4157..33e83dda9 100644
--- a/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_word_position_docids.rs
+++ b/milli/src/update/index_documents/extract/extract_word_position_docids.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ use super::helpers::{
 };
 use crate::error::SerializationError;
 use crate::index::db_name::DOCID_WORD_POSITIONS;
-use crate::{DocumentId, Result};
+use crate::{
+    bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position, relative_from_absolute_position, DocumentId, Result,
+};
 
 /// Extracts the word positions and the documents ids where this word appear.
 ///
@@ -37,9 +39,12 @@ pub fn extract_word_position_docids<R: io::Read + io::Seek>(
         let document_id = DocumentId::from_be_bytes(document_id_bytes);
 
         for position in read_u32_ne_bytes(value) {
+            let (field_id, relative) = relative_from_absolute_position(position);
+            let bucketed_position = bucketed_absolute_from_relative_position(field_id, relative);
+
             key_buffer.clear();
             key_buffer.extend_from_slice(word_bytes);
-            key_buffer.extend_from_slice(&position.to_be_bytes());
+            key_buffer.extend_from_slice(&bucketed_position.to_be_bytes());
 
             word_position_docids_sorter.insert(&key_buffer, document_id.to_ne_bytes())?;
         }