Search strings within a list from strings within a dictionary with the least complexity
both your datastructures can be cast into a dictionary directly:

&gt;&gt;&gt; dict(newValue)
{'men': 'John Doe,Chris perry', 'women': 'Mary,Anne,Lita'}

&gt;&gt;&gt; dict(keywords_list)
{'MEN': 'john,zack'}


from there you can just do a split based on , and compare in lowercase.