diff --git a/src/vs/editor/common/config/commonEditorConfig.ts b/src/vs/editor/common/config/commonEditorConfig.ts
index c88206bb4ddd115aadf5033c04562e036c889894..0d8811435883e5d8627dc3867541651e90adca42 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/common/config/commonEditorConfig.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/common/config/commonEditorConfig.ts
@@ -780,7 +780,26 @@ const editorConfiguration: IConfigurationNode = {
 			'description': nls.localize('emptySelectionClipboard', "Controls whether copying without a selection copies the current line.")
 		},
 		'editor.wordBasedSuggestions': {
-			'type': 'boolean',
+			'anyOf': [
+				'boolean',
+				{
+					type: 'object',
+					properties: {
+						strings: {
+							type: 'boolean',
+							description: nls.localize('wordBasedSuggestions.strings', "Enable word based suggestions inside strings.")
+						},
+						comments: {
+							type: 'boolean',
+							description: nls.localize('wordBasedSuggestions.comments', "Enable word based suggestions inside comments.")
+						},
+						default: {
+							type: 'boolean',
+							description: nls.localize('wordBasedSuggestions.default', "Enable word based suggestions outside of strings and comments.")
+						},
+					}
+				}
+			],
 			'default': DefaultConfig.editor.wordBasedSuggestions,
 			'description': nls.localize('wordBasedSuggestions', "Enable word based suggestions.")
 		},
diff --git a/src/vs/editor/common/editorCommon.ts b/src/vs/editor/common/editorCommon.ts
index 7c0c73ca0c452fcf5f8b5f92c37fbdbe46d04c9f..da83d7574fc3719fb7a256f36ec0bcbd80651b74 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/common/editorCommon.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/common/editorCommon.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import { BulkListenerCallback } from 'vs/base/common/eventEmitter';
 import { MarkedString } from 'vs/base/common/htmlContent';
 import * as types from 'vs/base/common/types';
+import * as objects from 'vs/base/common/objects';
 import URI from 'vs/base/common/uri';
 import { TPromise } from 'vs/base/common/winjs.base';
 import { ServicesAccessor, IConstructorSignature1 } from 'vs/platform/instantiation/common/instantiation';
@@ -481,7 +482,7 @@ export interface IEditorOptions {
 	/**
 	 * Enable word based suggestions. Defaults to 'true'
 	 */
-	wordBasedSuggestions?: boolean;
+	wordBasedSuggestions?: boolean | { strings?: boolean, comments?: boolean, default?: boolean };
 	/**
 	 * The font size for the suggest widget.
 	 * Defaults to the editor font size.
@@ -1015,7 +1016,7 @@ export class EditorContribOptions {
 	readonly acceptSuggestionOnCommitCharacter: boolean;
 	readonly snippetSuggestions: 'top' | 'bottom' | 'inline' | 'none';
 	readonly emptySelectionClipboard: boolean;
-	readonly wordBasedSuggestions: boolean;
+	readonly wordBasedSuggestions: boolean | { strings?: boolean, comments?: boolean, default?: boolean };
 	readonly suggestFontSize: number;
 	readonly suggestLineHeight: number;
 	readonly selectionHighlight: boolean;
@@ -1042,7 +1043,7 @@ export class EditorContribOptions {
 		acceptSuggestionOnCommitCharacter: boolean;
 		snippetSuggestions: 'top' | 'bottom' | 'inline' | 'none';
 		emptySelectionClipboard: boolean;
-		wordBasedSuggestions: boolean;
+		wordBasedSuggestions: boolean | { strings?: boolean, comments?: boolean, default?: boolean };
 		suggestFontSize: number;
 		suggestLineHeight: number;
 		selectionHighlight: boolean;
@@ -1094,7 +1095,7 @@ export class EditorContribOptions {
 			&& this.acceptSuggestionOnCommitCharacter === other.acceptSuggestionOnCommitCharacter
 			&& this.snippetSuggestions === other.snippetSuggestions
 			&& this.emptySelectionClipboard === other.emptySelectionClipboard
-			&& this.wordBasedSuggestions === other.wordBasedSuggestions
+			&& objects.equals(this.wordBasedSuggestions, other.wordBasedSuggestions)
 			&& this.suggestFontSize === other.suggestFontSize
 			&& this.suggestLineHeight === other.suggestLineHeight
 			&& this.selectionHighlight === other.selectionHighlight
diff --git a/src/vs/editor/common/services/editorWorkerServiceImpl.ts b/src/vs/editor/common/services/editorWorkerServiceImpl.ts
index e6ab63a9375e8fa25c9797dfdb473907dca43e89..08f740fbc40965632db65183457a06f018a10cc4 100644
--- a/src/vs/editor/common/services/editorWorkerServiceImpl.ts
+++ b/src/vs/editor/common/services/editorWorkerServiceImpl.ts
@@ -77,27 +77,6 @@ export class EditorWorkerServiceImpl implements IEditorWorkerService {
 	}
 }
 
-class WordBasedCompletionConfig {
-
-	static fromOldConfig(value: boolean): WordBasedCompletionConfig {
-		return new WordBasedCompletionConfig(value, value, value);
-	}
-
-	constructor(
-		readonly suggestInStrings: boolean,
-		readonly suggestInComments: boolean,
-		readonly suggestInCode: boolean
-	) {
-
-	}
-
-	accept(tokenType: modes.StandardTokenType): boolean {
-		return (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.String && this.suggestInStrings)
-			|| (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.Comment && this.suggestInComments)
-			|| (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.Other && this.suggestInCode);
-	}
-}
-
 class WordBasedCompletionItemProvider implements modes.ISuggestSupport {
 
 	private readonly _workerManager: WorkerManager;
@@ -110,16 +89,29 @@ class WordBasedCompletionItemProvider implements modes.ISuggestSupport {
 
 	provideCompletionItems(model: editorCommon.IModel, position: Position): TPromise<modes.ISuggestResult> {
 
-		// TODO(joh) should we force tokenization?
-		// model.forceTokenization(position.lineNumber);
-		const config = WordBasedCompletionConfig.fromOldConfig(this._configurationService.lookup<boolean>('editor.wordBasedSuggestions').value);
-		const tokens = model.getLineTokens(position.lineNumber);
-		const { tokenType } = tokens.findTokenAtOffset(position.column - 1);
+		const { wordBasedSuggestions } = this._configurationService.getConfiguration<editorCommon.IEditorOptions>('editor');
+
+		if (wordBasedSuggestions === false) {
+			// simple -> disabled everywhere
+			return undefined;
 
-		if (config.accept(tokenType)) {
+		} else if (wordBasedSuggestions === true) {
+			// simple -> enabled for all tokens
 			return this._workerManager.withWorker().then(client => client.textualSuggest(model.uri, position));
+
 		} else {
-			return undefined;
+			// check with token type and config
+			const tokens = model.getLineTokens(position.lineNumber);
+			const { tokenType } = tokens.findTokenAtOffset(position.column - 1);
+			const shoudSuggestHere = (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.Comment && wordBasedSuggestions.comments)
+				|| (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.String && wordBasedSuggestions.strings)
+				|| (tokenType === modes.StandardTokenType.Other && wordBasedSuggestions.default);
+
+			if (shoudSuggestHere) {
+				return this._workerManager.withWorker().then(client => client.textualSuggest(model.uri, position));
+			} else {
+				return undefined;
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/vs/monaco.d.ts b/src/vs/monaco.d.ts
index e1424651bb5fa299e517d521a5daa86fd46e7d0c..772fa0233e229e5583a34c2ecbe97c142f26c9ab 100644
--- a/src/vs/monaco.d.ts
+++ b/src/vs/monaco.d.ts
@@ -1397,7 +1397,11 @@ declare module monaco.editor {
         /**
          * Enable word based suggestions. Defaults to 'true'
          */
-        wordBasedSuggestions?: boolean;
+        wordBasedSuggestions?: boolean | {
+            strings?: boolean;
+            comments?: boolean;
+            default?: boolean;
+        };
         /**
          * The font size for the suggest widget.
          * Defaults to the editor font size.
@@ -1619,7 +1623,11 @@ declare module monaco.editor {
         readonly acceptSuggestionOnCommitCharacter: boolean;
         readonly snippetSuggestions: 'top' | 'bottom' | 'inline' | 'none';
         readonly emptySelectionClipboard: boolean;
-        readonly wordBasedSuggestions: boolean;
+        readonly wordBasedSuggestions: boolean | {
+            strings?: boolean;
+            comments?: boolean;
+            default?: boolean;
+        };
         readonly suggestFontSize: number;
         readonly suggestLineHeight: number;
         readonly selectionHighlight: boolean;