How to Use linger in a Sentence

linger

verb

• The tourists didn't linger very long.
• The idea lingered in their minds.
• The heat lingered long after the sun had gone down.
• The smell of her perfume lingered.
• He lingered in bed and missed breakfast.
• She lingered at the art exhibit.
• They lingered over coffee after dinner.
• Clean trash can spills or stains right away so odors don’t linger.
  — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Jan. 2026
• Her gaze lingered on his mouth.
  — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025
• The scent of coffee or chai might linger.
  — Wendy C. Ortiz, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2026
• Patchy fog may linger in the morning.
  — Brandi D. Addison, IndyStar, 3 Mar. 2026
• When the event ends, many people linger.
  — Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
• Don’t linger once staff gets involved.
  — Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 6 Sep. 2025
• All that said, the looks that linger the most for me are the unique ones.
  — José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 28 June 2022
• It is spread through tiny droplets in the air and lingers for up to two hours.
  — Judy Stone, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
• This light cedarwood scent smells great but doesn’t linger all day.
  — John Thompson, Men's Health, 10 Nov. 2022
• Life has too many blessings to bring to your door to let this linger.
  — Magi Helena, Dallas Morning News, 20 Mar. 2026
• But those figures could dip as the air stays cool and the clouds linger.
  — Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2023
• At the Texas fair, people linger.
  — Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
• These questions, whether fair or not, linger at the edges of the strike.
  — Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2022
• Her eyes linger on the sandwich board out front, with words scrawled in chalk.
  — Carly Tagen-Dye, People.com, 17 July 2025
• Early May could bring a brief snag but that doesn’t linger.
  — Magi Helena, Dallas Morning News, 17 Mar. 2026
• Napoli said the scars of trauma lingered for a long time.
  — Joe Holden, CBS News, 19 Feb. 2026
• For some people, the pain unleashed by the virus lingers.
  — Angela Haupt, Time, 23 Feb. 2026
• This too is more a metaphor, & makes the grieving man a room to linger in or leave.
  — Mairead Small Staid, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2022
• What kind of pop group was so willing to linger over death and taxes?
  — Jon Pareles, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2022
• The math turns against you the moment a balance lingers, though.
  — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 29 June 2026
• Slushy snow will linger to the north, with slick spots possible.
  — Joseph Dames, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2026
• Apartheid may have fallen, but its shadow still lingers.
  — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Jan. 2026
• Though the machines fell silent 40 years ago, the scent lingers.
  — Jeff Chu, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2026