1
: not armed or armored
unarmed civilians
also
: not using or involving a weapon
unarmed robbery
2
: having no hard and sharp projections (such as spines, spurs, or claws)
Examples of unarmed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lott and Moody found that 167 active shooting incidents were stopped by police, 199 were stopped by an armed citizen, and 196 resulted in a different outcome, such as the shooter fleeing the scene or being neutralized by unarmed citizens or unarmed security guards.
—
Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Japanese troops killed more than 200,000 unarmed civilians during its occupation, and raped and tortured tens of thousands of women and girls, in what is known as the Nanjing Massacre, one of the most notorious wartime atrocities of the 20th century.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Nov. 2025
That dynamic is visible in a growing multitude of cases, such as the shootings of unarmed teenagers Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Renisha McBride and Ralph Yarl.
—Caroline Light, The Conversation, 17 Nov. 2025
Drummond was unarmed, but authorities said several guns were recovered.
—CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unarmed
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Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Japanese troops killed more than 200,000 unarmed civilians during its occupation, and raped and tortured tens of thousands of women and girls, in what is known as the Nanjing Massacre, one of the most notorious wartime atrocities of the 20th century.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 21 Nov. 2025
That dynamic is visible in a growing multitude of cases, such as the shootings of unarmed teenagers Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Renisha McBride and Ralph Yarl.
—Caroline Light, The Conversation, 17 Nov. 2025
Drummond was unarmed, but authorities said several guns were recovered.
—CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unarmed
Cite this Entry
“Unarmed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unarmed. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unarmed
adjective
un·armed
ˌən-ˈärmd 
ˈən-
: not armed or armored
unarmed civilians
also
: not using or involving a weapon
unarmed robbery
Medical Definition
unarmed
adjective
un·armed
ˌən-ˈärmd
: having no arms or armlike projections
an unarmed tapeworm
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