diff --git a/autotests/src/completion_test.cpp b/autotests/src/completion_test.cpp
--- a/autotests/src/completion_test.cpp
+++ b/autotests/src/completion_test.cpp
@@ -470,6 +470,18 @@
     invokeCompletionBox(m_view);
     QCOMPARE(model->filteredItemCount(), (uint) 1);
 
+    // test matching from word start only
+    KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart, true);
+    m_view->document()->setText(QStringLiteral("some"));
+    invokeCompletionBox(m_view);
+    QCOMPARE(model->filteredItemCount(), (uint) 4);
+    // now with the default value
+    KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart, false);
+    m_view->document()->setText(QStringLiteral("some"));
+    invokeCompletionBox(m_view);
+    QCOMPARE(model->filteredItemCount(), (uint) 6);
+
+
     m_view->document()->setText(QStringLiteral("matched"));
     m_view->userInvokedCompletion();
     QApplication::processEvents();
diff --git a/src/completion/katecompletionmodel.cpp b/src/completion/katecompletionmodel.cpp
--- a/src/completion/katecompletionmodel.cpp
+++ b/src/completion/katecompletionmodel.cpp
@@ -2007,8 +2007,8 @@
     }
 
     matchCompletion = (m_nameColumn.startsWith(match, model->matchCaseSensitivity()) ? StartsWithMatch : NoMatch);
-    if (matchCompletion == NoMatch) {
-        // if no match, try for "contains"
+    if (! model->view()->config()->wordCompletionMatchFromWordStart() && matchCompletion == NoMatch) {
+        // If no match, and wordCompletionMatchFromWordStart() is false, try for "contains"
         // Only match when the occurrence is at a "word" beginning, marked by
         // an underscore or a capital. So Foo matches BarFoo and Bar_Foo, but not barfoo.
         // Starting at 1 saves looking at the beginning of the word, that was already checked above.
diff --git a/src/dialogs/completionconfigtab.ui b/src/dialogs/completionconfigtab.ui
--- a/src/dialogs/completionconfigtab.ui
+++ b/src/dialogs/completionconfigtab.ui
@@ -79,6 +79,16 @@
         </property>
        </widget>
       </item>
+      <item>
+       <widget class="QCheckBox" name="fromWordStart">
+        <property name="whatsThis">
+         <string>Only show completion items that match the beginning of a word, e.g. "Foo" will match "Foobar" but will not match "BarFoo". Note that the beginning of a word is marked by a capital letter or an underscore.</string>
+        </property>
+        <property name="text">
+         <string>Only show completions matching word beginning</string>
+        </property>
+       </widget>
+      </item>
      </layout>
     </widget>
    </item>
diff --git a/src/dialogs/katedialogs.cpp b/src/dialogs/katedialogs.cpp
--- a/src/dialogs/katedialogs.cpp
+++ b/src/dialogs/katedialogs.cpp
@@ -244,6 +244,7 @@
     observeChanges(ui->chkAutoCompletionEnabled);
     observeChanges(ui->gbKeywordCompletion);
     observeChanges(ui->gbWordCompletion);
+    observeChanges(ui->fromWordStart);
     observeChanges(ui->minimalWordLength);
     observeChanges(ui->removeTail);
 
@@ -274,6 +275,7 @@
     KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::AutomaticCompletionInvocation, ui->chkAutoCompletionEnabled->isChecked());
     KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::KeywordCompletion, ui->gbKeywordCompletion->isChecked());
     KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletion, ui->gbWordCompletion->isChecked());
+    KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart, ui->fromWordStart->isChecked());
     KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletionMinimalWordLength, ui->minimalWordLength->value());
     KateViewConfig::global()->setValue(KateViewConfig::WordCompletionRemoveTail, ui->removeTail->isChecked());
 
@@ -287,6 +289,7 @@
     ui->gbKeywordCompletion->setChecked(KateViewConfig::global()->keywordCompletion());
     ui->gbWordCompletion->setChecked(KateViewConfig::global()->wordCompletion());
 
+    ui->fromWordStart->setChecked(KateViewConfig::global()->wordCompletionMatchFromWordStart());
     ui->minimalWordLength->setValue(KateViewConfig::global()->wordCompletionMinimalWordLength());
     ui->removeTail->setChecked(KateViewConfig::global()->wordCompletionRemoveTail());
 }
diff --git a/src/utils/kateconfig.h b/src/utils/kateconfig.h
--- a/src/utils/kateconfig.h
+++ b/src/utils/kateconfig.h
@@ -989,6 +989,7 @@
         ViInputModeStealKeys,
         ViRelativeLineNumbers,
         WordCompletion,
+        WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart,
         WordCompletionMinimalWordLength,
         WordCompletionRemoveTail,
     };
@@ -1187,6 +1188,11 @@
          return value(KeywordCompletion).toBool();
     }
 
+    bool wordCompletionMatchFromWordStart() const
+    {
+        return value(WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart).toBool();
+    }
+
     int wordCompletionMinimalWordLength() const
     {
         return value(WordCompletionMinimalWordLength).toInt();
diff --git a/src/utils/kateconfig.cpp b/src/utils/kateconfig.cpp
--- a/src/utils/kateconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/kateconfig.cpp
@@ -556,6 +556,7 @@
     addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(ViInputModeStealKeys, "Vi Input Mode Steal Keys", QString(), false));
     addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(ViRelativeLineNumbers, "Vi Relative Line Numbers", QString(), false));
     addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(WordCompletion, "Word Completion", QString(), true));
+    addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(WordCompletionMatchFromWordStart, "Word Completion Match From Word Start Only", QString(), false));
     addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(WordCompletionMinimalWordLength, "Word Completion Minimal Word Length", QString(), 3, [](const QVariant &value) { return inBounds(0, value, 99); }));
     addConfigEntry(ConfigEntry(WordCompletionRemoveTail, "Word Completion Remove Tail", QString(), true));