diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5a51bdf5f9..1967d216cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -338,25 +338,21 @@ ## Video Selection:
                                      COUNT views
     --max-views COUNT                Do not download any videos with more than
                                      COUNT views
-    --match-filter FILTER            Generic video filter. Specify any key (see
-                                     "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of available
-                                     keys) to match if the key is present, !key
-                                     to check if the key is not present,
-                                     key>NUMBER (like "view_count > 12", also
-                                     works with >=, <, <=, !=, =) to compare
-                                     against a number, key = 'LITERAL' (like
-                                     "uploader = 'Mike Smith'", also works with
-                                     !=) to match against a string literal and &
-                                     to require multiple matches. Values which
-                                     are not known are excluded unless you put a
-                                     question mark (?) after the operator. For
-                                     example, to only match videos that have
-                                     been liked more than 100 times and disliked
-                                     less than 50 times (or the dislike
-                                     functionality is not available at the given
-                                     service), but who also have a description,
-                                     use --match-filter "like_count > 100 &
-                                     dislike_count <? 50 & description"
+    --match-filter FILTER            Generic video filter. Any field (see
+                                     "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a
+                                     number or a quoted string using the
+                                     operators defined in "Filtering formats".
+                                     You can also simply specify a field to
+                                     match if the field is present and "!field"
+                                     to check if the field is not present.
+                                     Multiple filters can be checked using "&".
+                                     For example, to only match videos that are
+                                     not live, has a like count more than 100, a
+                                     dislike count less than 50 (or the dislike
+                                     field is not available), and also has a
+                                     description that contains "python", use
+                                     --match-filter "!is_live & like_count>100 &
+                                     dislike_count<?50 & description*='python'"
     --no-match-filter                Do not use generic video filter (default)
     --no-playlist                    Download only the video, if the URL refers
                                      to a video and a playlist
diff --git a/test/test_utils.py b/test/test_utils.py
index f73e7b2048..5ac5dedc99 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_utils.py
@@ -1207,7 +1207,6 @@ def test_render_table(self):
             '9999 51')
 
     def test_match_str(self):
-        self.assertRaises(ValueError, match_str, 'xy>foobar', {})
         self.assertFalse(match_str('xy', {'x': 1200}))
         self.assertTrue(match_str('!xy', {'x': 1200}))
         self.assertTrue(match_str('x', {'x': 1200}))
@@ -1224,6 +1223,17 @@ def test_match_str(self):
         self.assertTrue(match_str('y=foobar42', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
         self.assertFalse(match_str('y!=foobar42', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
         self.assertTrue(match_str('y!=foobar2', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertTrue(match_str('y^=foo', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertFalse(match_str('y!^=foo', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertFalse(match_str('y^=bar', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertTrue(match_str('y!^=bar', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, match_str, 'x^=42', {'x': 42})
+        self.assertTrue(match_str('y*=bar', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertFalse(match_str('y!*=bar', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertFalse(match_str('y*=baz', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertTrue(match_str('y!*=baz', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertTrue(match_str('y$=42', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
+        self.assertFalse(match_str('y$=43', {'y': 'foobar42'}))
         self.assertFalse(match_str(
             'like_count > 100 & dislike_count <? 50 & description',
             {'like_count': 90, 'description': 'foo'}))
diff --git a/yt_dlp/options.py b/yt_dlp/options.py
index 85dadc7d93..fba2313829 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/options.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/options.py
@@ -375,22 +375,16 @@ def _dict_from_options_callback(
         '--match-filter',
         metavar='FILTER', dest='match_filter', default=None,
         help=(
-            'Generic video filter. '
-            'Specify any key (see "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for a list of available keys) to '
-            'match if the key is present, '
-            '!key to check if the key is not present, '
-            'key>NUMBER (like "view_count > 12", also works with '
-            '>=, <, <=, !=, =) to compare against a number, '
-            'key = \'LITERAL\' (like "uploader = \'Mike Smith\'", also works with !=) '
-            'to match against a string literal '
-            'and & to require multiple matches. '
-            'Values which are not known are excluded unless you '
-            'put a question mark (?) after the operator. '
-            'For example, to only match videos that have been liked more than '
-            '100 times and disliked less than 50 times (or the dislike '
-            'functionality is not available at the given service), but who '
-            'also have a description, use --match-filter '
-            '"like_count > 100 & dislike_count <? 50 & description"'))
+            'Generic video filter. Any field (see "OUTPUT TEMPLATE") can be compared with a '
+            'number or a string using the operators defined in "Filtering formats". '
+            'You can also simply specify a field to match if the field is present '
+            'and "!field" to check if the field is not present. '
+            'Multiple filters can be checked using "&". '
+            'For example, to only match videos that are not live, '
+            'has a like count more than 100, a dislike count less than 50 '
+            '(or the dislike field is not available), and also has a description '
+            'that contains "python", use --match-filter "!is_live & '
+            'like_count>100 & dislike_count<?50 & description*=\'python\'"'))
     selection.add_option(
         '--no-match-filter',
         metavar='FILTER', dest='match_filter', action='store_const', const=None,
diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils.py
index f24e00b02d..d06b18e005 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils.py
@@ -4663,17 +4663,20 @@ def filter_using_list(row, filterArray):
 
 
 def _match_one(filter_part, dct):
+    # TODO: Generalize code with YoutubeDL._build_format_filter
     COMPARISON_OPERATORS = {
         '<': operator.lt,
         '<=': operator.le,
         '>': operator.gt,
         '>=': operator.ge,
         '=': operator.eq,
-        '!=': operator.ne,
+        '*=': operator.contains,
+        '^=': lambda attr, value: attr.startswith(value),
+        '$=': lambda attr, value: attr.endswith(value),
     }
     operator_rex = re.compile(r'''(?x)\s*
         (?P<key>[a-z_]+)
-        \s*(?P<op>%s)(?P<none_inclusive>\s*\?)?\s*
+        \s*(?P<negation>!\s*)?(?P<op>%s)(?P<none_inclusive>\s*\?)?\s*
         (?:
             (?P<intval>[0-9.]+(?:[kKmMgGtTpPeEzZyY]i?[Bb]?)?)|
             (?P<quote>["\'])(?P<quotedstrval>(?:\\.|(?!(?P=quote)|\\).)+?)(?P=quote)|
@@ -4683,7 +4686,11 @@ def _match_one(filter_part, dct):
         ''' % '|'.join(map(re.escape, COMPARISON_OPERATORS.keys())))
     m = operator_rex.search(filter_part)
     if m:
-        op = COMPARISON_OPERATORS[m.group('op')]
+        unnegated_op = COMPARISON_OPERATORS[m.group('op')]
+        if m.group('negation'):
+            op = lambda attr, value: not unnegated_op(attr, value)
+        else:
+            op = unnegated_op
         actual_value = dct.get(m.group('key'))
         if (m.group('quotedstrval') is not None
             or m.group('strval') is not None
@@ -4693,14 +4700,14 @@ def _match_one(filter_part, dct):
             # https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/issues/11082).
             or actual_value is not None and m.group('intval') is not None
                 and isinstance(actual_value, compat_str)):
-            if m.group('op') not in ('=', '!='):
-                raise ValueError(
-                    'Operator %s does not support string values!' % m.group('op'))
             comparison_value = m.group('quotedstrval') or m.group('strval') or m.group('intval')
             quote = m.group('quote')
             if quote is not None:
                 comparison_value = comparison_value.replace(r'\%s' % quote, quote)
         else:
+            if m.group('op') in ('*=', '^=', '$='):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    'Operator %s only supports string values!' % m.group('op'))
             try:
                 comparison_value = int(m.group('intval'))
             except ValueError: