diff --git a/crates/egui/src/interaction.rs b/crates/egui/src/interaction.rs
index 6e01ec8fb..68ec86a50 100644
--- a/crates/egui/src/interaction.rs
+++ b/crates/egui/src/interaction.rs
@@ -197,7 +197,19 @@ pub(crate) fn interact(
                 // This widget is sensitive to both clicks and drags.
                 // When the mouse first is pressed, it could be either,
                 // so we postpone the decision until we know.
-                input.pointer.is_decidedly_dragging()
+                //
+                // …unless a click is no longer possible at all: a click has to be
+                // released on the widget, and `hits.click` tells us whether the
+                // pointer is still somewhere a release would land on this widget.
+                // Note that this is not the same as being inside `interact_rect`:
+                // the hit-test also picks up widgets within `interact_radius`, and
+                // lets a widget on top take the hit.
+                //
+                // Deciding here means a thin drag handle (narrower than
+                // `max_click_dist`) doesn't spend the decision window as neither
+                // hovered nor dragged, which would make its highlight blink out.
+                let could_still_be_clicked = hits.click.is_some_and(|hit| hit.id == widget.id);
+                input.pointer.is_decidedly_dragging() || !could_still_be_clicked
             } else {
                 // This widget is just sensitive to drags, so we can mark it as dragged right away:
                 widget.sense.senses_drag()
diff --git a/crates/egui/src/response.rs b/crates/egui/src/response.rs
index 81d04f1ef..5ba7b8943 100644
--- a/crates/egui/src/response.rs
+++ b/crates/egui/src/response.rs
@@ -309,6 +309,12 @@ impl Response {
     ///
     /// In contrast to [`Self::contains_pointer`], this will be `false` whenever some other widget is being dragged.
     /// `hovered` is always `false` for disabled widgets.
+    ///
+    /// While a widget is being clicked or dragged it is the only hovered widget,
+    /// so this stays `true` even after the pointer moves off it. Together with
+    /// how [`Self::dragged`] resolves a press that leaves the widget, that means
+    /// `hovered() || dragged()` holds for a whole press-drag-release gesture,
+    /// which is what you want for highlighting something like a drag handle.
     #[inline(always)]
     pub fn hovered(&self) -> bool {
         self.flags.contains(Flags::HOVERED)
@@ -403,11 +409,21 @@ impl Response {
     /// To find out which button(s), use [`Self::dragged_by`].
     ///
     /// If the widget is only sensitive to drags, this is `true` as soon as the pointer presses down on it.
-    /// If the widget also senses clicks, this won't be true until the pointer has moved a bit,
-    /// or the user has pressed down for long enough.
+    ///
+    /// If the widget also senses clicks, the press could be either, so the
+    /// decision is postponed until whichever of these comes first:
+    /// * the pointer moves further than [`crate::InputOptions::max_click_dist`],
+    /// * it is held longer than [`crate::InputOptions::max_click_duration`],
+    /// * or it leaves the widget — a click has to be released on the widget, so
+    ///   once the pointer is outside, the gesture can only be a drag. This is what
+    ///   keeps a handle thinner than `max_click_dist` from spending the decision
+    ///   window as neither hovered nor dragged.
+    ///
     /// See [`crate::input_state::PointerState::is_decidedly_dragging`] for details.
     ///
-    /// If you want to avoid the delay, use [`Self::is_pointer_button_down_on`] instead.
+    /// While the decision is pending the pointer is still on the widget, so
+    /// [`Self::hovered`] is `true` throughout. If you want neither the delay nor
+    /// the distinction, use [`Self::is_pointer_button_down_on`].
     ///
     /// If the widget is NOT sensitive to drags, this will always be `false`.
     /// [`crate::DragValue`] senses drags; [`crate::Label`] does not (unless you call [`crate::Label::sense`]).
@@ -571,6 +587,9 @@ impl Response {
     /// even when dragging outside the widget.
     ///
     /// This could also be thought of as "is this widget being interacted with?".
+    ///
+    /// Unlike [`Self::dragged`], this is `true` from the press frame onwards, with
+    /// no click-versus-drag decision window.
     #[inline(always)]
     pub fn is_pointer_button_down_on(&self) -> bool {
         self.flags.contains(Flags::IS_POINTER_BUTTON_DOWN_ON)
diff --git a/tests/egui_tests/tests/test_click_or_drag.rs b/tests/egui_tests/tests/test_click_or_drag.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58be44247
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/egui_tests/tests/test_click_or_drag.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+//! Tests for how egui decides whether a press on a click-and-drag widget
+//! is a click or a drag.
+
+use egui::{Id, InputOptions, Pos2, Rect, Sense, Style, Vec2};
+use egui_kittest::Harness;
+
+/// How far the pointer may move before a press is decidedly a drag.
+fn max_click_dist() -> f32 {
+    InputOptions::default().max_click_dist
+}
+
+/// How far outside its rect a widget can still be hit.
+fn interact_radius() -> f32 {
+    Style::default().interaction.interact_radius
+}
+
+fn widget_id() -> Id {
+    Id::new("click_and_drag")
+}
+
+/// A harness with one click-and-drag widget of the given size at the top-left.
+///
+/// If `with_background`, a second click-and-drag widget covers the whole area
+/// _beneath_ it. That one matters: without something under the pointer to take
+/// over the hover, the first widget keeps it even after the pointer leaves.
+///
+/// Steps at 60Hz. The default `step_dt` of 0.25s would blow past
+/// `max_click_duration` within a couple of frames, turning every press into a
+/// drag before the distance rules get a chance to matter.
+fn harness_with_widget(size: Vec2, with_background: bool) -> Harness<'static, ()> {
+    Harness::builder()
+        .with_step_dt(1.0 / 60.0)
+        .with_size(Vec2::new(300.0, 200.0))
+        .build_ui(move |ui| {
+            if with_background {
+                // Allocated first, so it ends up _behind_ the widget under test.
+                ui.interact(
+                    ui.max_rect(),
+                    Id::new("background"),
+                    Sense::click_and_drag(),
+                );
+            }
+            let rect = Rect::from_min_size(ui.max_rect().min, size);
+            ui.interact(rect, widget_id(), Sense::click_and_drag());
+        })
+}
+
+/// The widget's `(hovered, dragged)` as of the last completed pass.
+fn widget_state(harness: &Harness<'_, ()>) -> (bool, bool) {
+    harness
+        .ctx
+        .read_response(widget_id())
+        .map(|r| (r.hovered(), r.dragged()))
+        .expect("the widget should have been registered")
+}
+
+/// The widget's rect as of the last completed pass.
+fn widget_rect(harness: &Harness<'_, ()>) -> Rect {
+    harness
+        .ctx
+        .read_response(widget_id())
+        .expect("the widget should have been registered")
+        .rect
+}
+
+/// Press the primary button at `pos`, without releasing it.
+fn press_at(harness: &mut Harness<'_, ()>, pos: Pos2) {
+    harness.hover_at(pos);
+    harness.step();
+    harness.drag_at(pos);
+    harness.step();
+}
+
+/// Once a release can no longer land on the widget, the press can no longer become
+/// a click, so it counts as a drag right away — without waiting for `max_click_dist`.
+///
+/// This matters for widgets thinner than `max_click_dist` (panel resize handles,
+/// say): waiting would leave them neither hovered nor dragged for a few frames,
+/// which shows up as a flickering highlight.
+#[test]
+fn press_that_leaves_a_thin_widget_becomes_a_drag_immediately() {
+    let width = max_click_dist() / 2.0; // thinner than `max_click_dist`
+    let mut harness = harness_with_widget(Vec2::new(width, 100.0), true);
+    harness.step();
+
+    let grab = widget_rect(&harness).center();
+    press_at(&mut harness, grab);
+
+    let (hovered, dragged) = widget_state(&harness);
+    assert!(hovered && !dragged, "the press starts out undecided");
+
+    // Creep outward in 1px steps, never reaching `max_click_dist` —
+    // if we did, `is_decidedly_dragging` would explain the drag on its own
+    // and the test would prove nothing.
+    let mut saw_drag = false;
+    for step in 1..max_click_dist().ceil() as i32 {
+        let offset = step as f32;
+        harness.hover_at(Pos2::new(grab.x + offset, grab.y));
+        harness.step();
+
+        let (hovered, dragged) = widget_state(&harness);
+        saw_drag |= dragged;
+        assert!(
+            hovered || dragged,
+            "at +{offset}px the widget was neither hovered nor dragged, \
+             so anything highlighting on `hovered || dragged` would blink out"
+        );
+    }
+
+    assert!(
+        saw_drag,
+        "leaving the widget should have started a drag, even within max_click_dist"
+    );
+}
+
+/// While the pointer is still on the widget, a press stays undecided: hovered,
+/// but not yet dragged, so it can still become a click.
+#[test]
+fn press_inside_a_wide_widget_stays_undecided() {
+    let mut harness = harness_with_widget(Vec2::new(100.0, 100.0), true);
+    harness.step();
+
+    let grab = widget_rect(&harness).center();
+    press_at(&mut harness, grab);
+
+    // A small twitch: inside the widget, and inside `max_click_dist`.
+    harness.hover_at(Pos2::new(grab.x + max_click_dist() / 2.0, grab.y));
+    harness.step();
+
+    let (hovered, dragged) = widget_state(&harness);
+    assert!(hovered, "the pointer is still over the widget");
+    assert!(
+        !dragged,
+        "a small twitch inside the widget should still be able to become a click"
+    );
+}
+
+/// A press just _outside_ the widget still hits it, thanks to `interact_radius`.
+/// The pointer hasn't moved at all, so this must not count as leaving the widget.
+#[test]
+fn press_just_outside_a_widget_stays_undecided() {
+    // No background: we want the widget to win the hit-test from a distance.
+    let mut harness = harness_with_widget(Vec2::new(100.0, 100.0), false);
+    harness.step();
+
+    let rect = widget_rect(&harness);
+    let offset = interact_radius() - 1.0;
+    let grab = Pos2::new(rect.right() + offset, rect.center().y);
+    press_at(&mut harness, grab);
+
+    let (hovered, dragged) = widget_state(&harness);
+    assert!(
+        hovered,
+        "a press within interact_radius still hits the widget"
+    );
+    assert!(
+        !dragged,
+        "the pointer never moved, so this press must still be able to become a click"
+    );
+}
+
+/// A press and release inside the widget is still a click, not a drag.
+#[test]
+fn click_inside_a_widget_still_clicks() {
+    let mut harness = harness_with_widget(Vec2::new(100.0, 100.0), true);
+    harness.step();
+
+    let grab = widget_rect(&harness).center();
+    press_at(&mut harness, grab);
+    // Release without `drop_at`, which would also fire `PointerGone` and so
+    // discard the click.
+    harness.event(egui::Event::PointerButton {
+        pos: grab,
+        button: egui::PointerButton::Primary,
+        pressed: false,
+        modifiers: egui::Modifiers::NONE,
+    });
+    harness.step();
+
+    assert!(
+        harness
+            .ctx
+            .read_response(widget_id())
+            .is_some_and(|r| r.clicked()),
+        "press and release without moving should be a click"
+    );
+}