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 demonstrator currently operates at approximately 20 kilowatts, which is suitable for neutralizing small unmanned aerial vehicles and light surface targets.
—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
The department also noted that the use of unmanned aircraft, or drones, is prohibited in Yosemite without a special permit.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Integrating autonomy not only reduces labor costs in commercial transport, but also enables unmanned missions — protecting military personnel by keeping them out of harm’s way.
—Big Think, 28 Oct. 2025
Its terminals keep troops connected on the battlefield but also help guide FPV drones, marine robots and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) beyond the reach of radio links.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
The department also noted that the use of unmanned aircraft, or drones, is prohibited in Yosemite without a special permit.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Integrating autonomy not only reduces labor costs in commercial transport, but also enables unmanned missions — protecting military personnel by keeping them out of harm’s way.
—Big Think, 28 Oct. 2025
Its terminals keep troops connected on the battlefield but also help guide FPV drones, marine robots and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) beyond the reach of radio links.
—Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 27 Oct. 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 3 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unmanned
adjective
un·manned
ˌən-ˈmand 
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft
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