Begins as either a bear hug or a squeeze hug, but when the end of it is initiated, the non-initiating party waits a second longer and then slowly disengages, but allows their hand to sweep down the person's back and then lets go at the waist.
A lingering hug is awesome to witness or experience, if both parties are mutually attracted to one another, but terribly awkward if one or more parties is not interested.
by SundazeChild May 13, 2013
A lingering hug is when the hug initiator exceeds the hug time appropriate for their attractiveness. It is often associated with politicians that have aged out of their attractive years initiating hugs with interns. This problem grew in viability during the #MeToo movement. The maximum time for a normal hug is determined by taking the hug initiator's attractiveness and dividing by two. For example, if the hug initiator is a six attractiveness, they can give a three second hug and still be socially acceptable, but a four second hug lingers. On the other hand, if the initiator is a nine attractiveness, a four second hug has time to spare.
by TheBear89451 January 6, 2018