diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 4a04667..dea9a02 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ Key concepts: Hot → Warm → Cold tiers. Hybrid retrieval (FTS + pgvector HNSW
 | Variable | Default | Description |
 |----------|---------|-------------|
 | `KEYWORD_OVERLAP_BOOST` | `0.3` | Score boost when query tokens overlap memory keywords |
+| `HYBRID_SEMANTIC_WEIGHT` | `1.5` | Weight on the semantic arm's RRF contribution in hybrid search. With RRF K=60, 1.5 means semantic ranks 1-31 outscore a keyword-only rank-1 hit; lower values give the lexical arm more say. Optimal value depends on the embedding model — measure before changing. |
 | `TEMPORAL_PROXIMITY_DAYS` | `7` | Days window for temporal proximity boost |
 | `CONSOLIDATION_INNER_BATCH_SIZE` | `50` | Hot-tier rows per inner consolidation batch |
 | `TEMPORAL_DECAY_RATE` | `0` | Score decay per hour (0 = disabled) |
diff --git a/src/memory-manager.ts b/src/memory-manager.ts
index dd561a8..d2a1199 100644
--- a/src/memory-manager.ts
+++ b/src/memory-manager.ts
@@ -310,6 +310,7 @@ const DEFAULTS: MemForgeConfig = {
   temporalDecayRate: 0,
   consolidationInnerBatchSize: 50,
   keywordOverlapBoost: 0.3,
+  hybridSemanticWeight: 1.5,
   temporalProximityDays: 7,
   enableLlmRerank: false,
   enableLlmIngest: false,
@@ -1167,11 +1168,15 @@ Ranking (numbers only):`;
       }
     });
 
-    // Semantic results weighted 1.5x — paraphrase matching is the primary failure mode
-    // in conversational memory retrieval (users ask differently than memories are stored)
+    // Semantic arm weighted above 1.0 because paraphrase matching is the
+    // primary failure mode in conversational memory retrieval (users ask
+    // differently than memories are stored). The multiplier is configurable —
+    // at 1.5 with K=60, semantic ranks 1-31 outscore a keyword-only rank-1
+    // hit, which is a strong thumb on the scale and worth measuring.
+    const semanticWeight = this.config.hybridSemanticWeight ?? 1.5;
     semanticResults.forEach((row, idx) => {
       const key = String(row.id);
-      const rrf = 1.5 / (K + idx + 1);
+      const rrf = semanticWeight / (K + idx + 1);
       const existing = scores.get(key);
       if (existing) {
         existing.score += rrf;
diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index 9b4a901..f4f0792 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ const manager = new MemoryManager({
   temporalDecayRate: parseFloat(process.env['TEMPORAL_DECAY_RATE'] ?? '0'),
   consolidationInnerBatchSize: parseInt(process.env['CONSOLIDATION_INNER_BATCH_SIZE'] ?? '50', 10),
   keywordOverlapBoost: parseFloat(process.env['KEYWORD_OVERLAP_BOOST'] ?? '0.3'),
+  hybridSemanticWeight: parseFloat(process.env['HYBRID_SEMANTIC_WEIGHT'] ?? '1.5'),
   temporalProximityDays: parseFloat(process.env['TEMPORAL_PROXIMITY_DAYS'] ?? '7'),
   enableLlmRerank: process.env['ENABLE_LLM_RERANK'] === 'true',
   enableLlmIngest: process.env['ENABLE_LLM_INGEST'] === 'true',
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 172e611..8cace08 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -806,6 +806,15 @@ export interface MemForgeConfig {
   consolidationInnerBatchSize: number;
   /** Keyword overlap boost factor for hybrid search (default 0.3, 0 = disabled). */
   keywordOverlapBoost: number;
+  /**
+   * Weight applied to the semantic arm's RRF contribution in hybrid search
+   * (default 1.5). Above 1.0 the semantic ranking dominates: with the standard
+   * RRF constant K=60, a weight of 1.5 means semantic ranks 1-31 all outscore
+   * a keyword-only rank-1 hit, so lexical matches the vector arm missed are
+   * effectively invisible. Exposed as HYBRID_SEMANTIC_WEIGHT so the balance
+   * can be measured rather than assumed.
+   */
+  hybridSemanticWeight: number;
   /** Temporal proximity window in days for time-aware scoring (default 7, 0 = disabled). */
   temporalProximityDays: number;
   /** Enable LLM post-retrieval reranking (default false — opt-in, adds ~2K tokens/query) */