nominal embrace

Refers to a merely “in name only” type of hug that you give someone whom you do not actually have romantic/affectionate feelings toward, but are just “going through the motions” to be polite/agreeable.

There are various reasons why one might administer a nominal embrace; the most common situations might be (A) you are giving the other person a proxy hug as a favor for someone else, or (B) you are at a party, wedding, or other social gathering where “everyone is doing it” --- i.e., giving a hug --- to one or more “special” attendees, such as the hostess, "birthday boy/girl", the newlyweds, etc., or (C) the huggee is either mentally challenged and thus craves “cuddly attention” from everyone around him, or he is presently going through a rough time in his life, and thus he needs all the emotional support he can get.