Can Someone be Simply "An Agnostic?"

[c172]

Hey guys, just joined the forum after lurking for a couple weeks, and I wanted to grab your input on something that’s been bothering me.
Whenever I hear someone say “I’m not atheist, I’m an agnostic”, I’m not exactly sure what that means. I was under the impression that agnostic is a qualifier for your belief that simply means you don’t claim to know your belief is true, such as being an agnostic Christian or somesuch.
When I see people shying away from the term atheist or squirming in their seat and milling around before tentatively using the word ‘agnostic’ alone, it grates on me just a little bit because it feels to me like they’re reinforcing the connotation of the word ‘atheist’ being somehow undesirable or simply misunderstood.
I’d never deign to shove labels onto people, and people can describe themselves however they like I suppose, but am I out of bounds with my small irritation? Unless of course someone is claiming that they don’t know what is going on inside their own head, which I never really understood either.

Thanks for your input!

(also unrelated…I can’t seem to upload an image to change my avatar..anyone had trouble with that before?)

Without having gotten through this thread, I had thought agnostic meant that you believe there's no way to ever know the truth on whether there is a god or not. For me, I think there is a way to reveal that for sure, but we don't know what that is quite yet. So, based on what little I do know, I conclude there is no god, making me an atheist (but not agnostic).