: being or marked by an unsophisticated, self-conscious, or self-effacing manner
an aw-shucks grin
Synonyms of aw-shucks
Examples of aw-shucks in a Sentence
his persona may be that of an aw-shucks country singer, but offstage he is anything but
Recent Examples on the Web
Especially Harbour, which checks out, seeing how showrunner Steven Conrad claims to have built the series around the actor’s perpetually warm, aw-shucks persona.
—
Andy Andersen, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
Bridgeman doesn’t speak with arrogance but with a calm, aw-shucks confidence.
—Brody Miller, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026
So far, the closest person the 2020s have to fill that slot is Glen Powell, a native of the Lone Star State blessed with a smile that melts butter and and aw-shucks amiability.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
Reagan cultivated a distinctly American mythos: the aw-shucks cowboy working his ranch and standing up to tyranny.
—Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
There was no aw-shucks mugging, no twee riffs on lunchbox junk food: his cooking was precise, focussed, with a near-reverential attention to detail, and a high-end sensibility.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026
But there was always more to Aydın than his aw-shucks dimples.
—Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The aw-shucks routine appeared carefully calibrated to reinforce his core message, framing Republicans as the reasonable stewards of government being thwarted by extremist Democrats.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 4 Oct. 2025
Played by the versatile Domhnall Gleeson, in a performance that couldn’t be more different from his memorably unnerving turns in The Patient and Black Mirror, incoming Truth-Teller editor-in-chief Ned Sampson has a sort of aw-shucks, pre-Ozark-Jason-Bateman vibe.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Sep. 2025
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Andy Andersen, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2026
Bridgeman doesn’t speak with arrogance but with a calm, aw-shucks confidence.
—Brody Miller, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026
So far, the closest person the 2020s have to fill that slot is Glen Powell, a native of the Lone Star State blessed with a smile that melts butter and and aw-shucks amiability.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2026
Reagan cultivated a distinctly American mythos: the aw-shucks cowboy working his ranch and standing up to tyranny.
—Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
There was no aw-shucks mugging, no twee riffs on lunchbox junk food: his cooking was precise, focussed, with a near-reverential attention to detail, and a high-end sensibility.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 11 Jan. 2026
But there was always more to Aydın than his aw-shucks dimples.
—Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The aw-shucks routine appeared carefully calibrated to reinforce his core message, framing Republicans as the reasonable stewards of government being thwarted by extremist Democrats.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 4 Oct. 2025
Played by the versatile Domhnall Gleeson, in a performance that couldn’t be more different from his memorably unnerving turns in The Patient and Black Mirror, incoming Truth-Teller editor-in-chief Ned Sampson has a sort of aw-shucks, pre-Ozark-Jason-Bateman vibe.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Aw-shucks.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aw-shucks. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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