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
Autonomous fleet support BlueWhale functions as an extended sensor arm for manned naval platforms, operating independently for long durations while covering wide maritime areas.
—
Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 27 Feb. 2026
Smith manned center Tuesday at Clover Park with Cole in left and Loperfido in right.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 24 Feb. 2026
Not least among these is their relative cheapness compared to manned systems, combined with their expendability.
—New Atlas, 19 Feb. 2026
Caudle said the Navy plans to greatly supplement manned warships — particularly carriers — with small, unmanned, autonomous vessels that can do everything from conduct surveillance to neutralize mines.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for manned
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Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 27 Feb. 2026
Smith manned center Tuesday at Clover Park with Cole in left and Loperfido in right.
—Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 24 Feb. 2026
Not least among these is their relative cheapness compared to manned systems, combined with their expendability.
—New Atlas, 19 Feb. 2026
Caudle said the Navy plans to greatly supplement manned warships — particularly carriers — with small, unmanned, autonomous vessels that can do everything from conduct surveillance to neutralize mines.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for manned
Cite this Entry
“Manned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manned. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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manned
adjective
: carrying or performed by a person
manned spaceflight
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