manned

adjective

ˈmand 

see usage paragraph below

: carrying, staffed, or performed by one or more people

a manned security booth

manned spaceflight

a manned mission

Usage of Manned and Unmanned

While manned and unmanned are still commonly used in news sources to describe spaceflights with and without human crews, respectively, 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 manned in a Sentence

a manned mission to the moon

Recent Examples on the Web

The reality of such developments is not far off, with Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander touching down on the moon earlier this year and NASA planning a manned landing in 2026. —Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024

To guard against manned and unmanned surface vessels that could pose threats, Stavridis said, commanders could position Navy SEALs or other armed personnel in small, high-speed boats, with Israeli security forces providing protection on land. —Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

manned

adjective

ˈmand 

: carrying or performed by a person

manned spaceflight