m{.|} m{\!} # with ! not anywhere in the string you match #### #with short pattern m{.|U*e?Z+} horrid rx matches string Rate // qr/o qr /o // 1254/s -- -29% -30% -34% qr/o 1771/s 41% -- -1% -7% qr 1781/s 42% 1% -- -7% /o 1912/s 52% 8% 7% -- #with long pattern m{.|U*e?Z+J{0,1}z*4{0,1}7?d*H+k*l+N+d{0,1}4+9{0,1} ... 1000 more subpattern horrid rx matches string Rate // qr qr/o /o // 235/s -- -87% -87% -88% qr 1770/s 654% -- -1% -7% qr/o 1781/s 659% 1% -- -7% /o 1912/s 715% 8% 7% --