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 gender-neutral 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

Enabling longer-range drone missions with heavier payloads The electromagnetic catapult system aboard the Type 076 is expected to expand the range of aircraft the ship can deploy, supporting both manned fighter jets and larger unmanned aircraft. — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 2 Aug. 2026

Currently, military forces worldwide are using drone boats in tandem with larger manned surface vessels. — Zita Ballinger Fletcher, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

By still spending so much on conventional manned equipment, the United States and many other countries are diverting funds from more efficient systems. — Phillips Payson O’Brien, The Atlantic, 18 July 2026

In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy on America’s fourth successful manned mission to the moon. — ABC News, 13 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for manned

• armband
• backhand
• bandstand
• baseband
• broadband
• command
• cropland
• demand
• disband
• dreamland
• expand
• farmhand

Kids Definition

manned

adjective

ˈmand 

: carrying or performed by a person

manned spaceflight