diff --git a/packages/web/lib/highlights/normalizeHighlightRange.ts b/packages/web/lib/highlights/normalizeHighlightRange.ts
index c35445c2a..d9c207398 100644
--- a/packages/web/lib/highlights/normalizeHighlightRange.ts
+++ b/packages/web/lib/highlights/normalizeHighlightRange.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 export function extendRangeToWordBoundaries(range: Range): void {
   const { nodeValue: startValue } = range.startContainer
   const { nodeValue: endValue } = range.endContainer
+  const noWordSnap = disableWordSnap(range.toString())
 
-  const startOffset = findNextWord(range.startOffset, false, startValue)
-  const endOffset = findNextWord(range.endOffset, true, endValue)
+  const startOffset = noWordSnap ? range.startOffset : findNextWord(range.startOffset, false, startValue)
+  const endOffset = noWordSnap ? range.endOffset : findNextWord(range.endOffset, true, endValue)
 
   try {
     range.setStart(range.startContainer, startOffset)
@@ -13,7 +14,17 @@ export function extendRangeToWordBoundaries(range: Range): void {
   }
 }
 
-const isWhitespace = (c?: string): boolean => !!c && /\s/.test(c)
+function disableWordSnap(str: string): boolean {
+  // For CJK languages we don't attempt word snapping
+  if (str.match(/[\u3131-\uD79D]/ugi)) {
+    return true
+  }
+  return false
+}
+
+const isWhitespace = (c?: string): boolean => {
+  return !!c && /\u2014|\u2013|,|\s/.test(c)
+}
 
 function findNextWord(
   start: number,