1
see usage paragraph below
: not carrying, staffed, or performed by people : not manned
an unmanned railroad crossing
unmanned spaceflight
2
of a hawk
: not trained
Usage of Manned and Unmanned
While manned and unmanned are still commonly used in news sources to describe spaceflights, NASA has since the early 21st century used and prescribed non-gender-specific terms, preferring such descriptors as human, piloted, and crewed for the former, and unpiloted and uncrewed for the latter.
Examples of unmanned in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The promise of traveling from New York to London in less than 60 minutes, or Los Angeles to Tokyo in three hours, has been around since 1949, when an unmanned two-stage Bumper rocket blasted through the sky at 5,150 mph.
—
Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2025
The company’s software enables unmanned aircraft to operate in environments without GPS or communications available.
—Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
What To Know The Taiwanese Defense Ministry announced that the Chinese military deployed a total of 59 manned and unmanned aircraft plus nine naval vessels around the island in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Tuesday, in addition to at least two balloons.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
China’s military has been working on next-generation jet fighters, unmanned drones, new submarines and other weapons.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
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Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 22 Mar. 2025
The company’s software enables unmanned aircraft to operate in environments without GPS or communications available.
—Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
What To Know The Taiwanese Defense Ministry announced that the Chinese military deployed a total of 59 manned and unmanned aircraft plus nine naval vessels around the island in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Tuesday, in addition to at least two balloons.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025
China’s military has been working on next-generation jet fighters, unmanned drones, new submarines and other weapons.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
Cite this Entry
“Unmanned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmanned. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unmanned
adjective
un·manned
ˌən-ˈmand 
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft
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