diff --git a/canvas/src/components/MemoryInspectorPanel.tsx b/canvas/src/components/MemoryInspectorPanel.tsx
index ed54d8b5..4f49242b 100644
--- a/canvas/src/components/MemoryInspectorPanel.tsx
+++ b/canvas/src/components/MemoryInspectorPanel.tsx
@@ -427,11 +427,18 @@ function MemoryEntryRow({
         {/* Similarity score badge — only rendered when backend provides a score */}
         {entry.similarity_score != null && (
           <span
-            className="text-[9px] text-zinc-500 shrink-0 font-mono tabular-nums"
+            className={[
+              "text-[9px] shrink-0 font-mono tabular-nums",
+              entry.similarity_score >= 0.8
+                ? "text-blue-500"
+                : entry.similarity_score >= 0.5
+                ? "text-zinc-400"
+                : "text-zinc-400 italic",
+            ].join(" ")}
             title={`Similarity: ${(entry.similarity_score * 100).toFixed(1)}%`}
             data-testid="similarity-badge"
           >
-            {Math.round(entry.similarity_score * 100)}%
+            {entry.similarity_score < 0.5 ? "~" : ""}{Math.round(entry.similarity_score * 100)}%
           </span>
         )}
         <span className="text-[9px] text-zinc-600 shrink-0">
diff --git a/canvas/src/components/__tests__/MemoryInspectorPanel.test.tsx b/canvas/src/components/__tests__/MemoryInspectorPanel.test.tsx
index 1cb709ac..31ef0925 100644
--- a/canvas/src/components/__tests__/MemoryInspectorPanel.test.tsx
+++ b/canvas/src/components/__tests__/MemoryInspectorPanel.test.tsx
@@ -475,6 +475,47 @@ describe("MemoryInspectorPanel — semantic search", () => {
     ).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it("colors similarity-badge blue-500 when score >= 0.8", async () => {
+    mockGet.mockResolvedValue([
+      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+      { ...ENTRY_A, similarity_score: 0.92 },
+    ] as any);
+    render(<MemoryInspectorPanel workspaceId="ws-1" />);
+    await waitFor(() => screen.getByText("task-queue"));
+    const badge = document.querySelector('[data-testid="similarity-badge"]');
+    expect(badge?.className).toContain("text-blue-500");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-zinc-400");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-zinc-600");
+  });
+
+  it("colors similarity-badge zinc-400 when score is between 0.5 and 0.8", async () => {
+    mockGet.mockResolvedValue([
+      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+      { ...ENTRY_A, similarity_score: 0.65 },
+    ] as any);
+    render(<MemoryInspectorPanel workspaceId="ws-1" />);
+    await waitFor(() => screen.getByText("task-queue"));
+    const badge = document.querySelector('[data-testid="similarity-badge"]');
+    expect(badge?.className).toContain("text-zinc-400");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-blue-500");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-zinc-600");
+  });
+
+  it("colors similarity-badge zinc-400 italic with tilde prefix when score is below 0.5", async () => {
+    mockGet.mockResolvedValue([
+      // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
+      { ...ENTRY_A, similarity_score: 0.31 },
+    ] as any);
+    render(<MemoryInspectorPanel workspaceId="ws-1" />);
+    await waitFor(() => screen.getByText("task-queue"));
+    const badge = document.querySelector('[data-testid="similarity-badge"]');
+    expect(badge?.className).toContain("text-zinc-400");
+    expect(badge?.className).toContain("italic");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-blue-500");
+    expect(badge?.className).not.toContain("text-zinc-600");
+    expect(badge?.textContent).toBe("~31%");
+  });
+
   it("clear button resets debouncedQuery immediately and re-fetches without ?q=", async () => {
     vi.useFakeTimers();
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any