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 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 unmanned in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The system reflects the growing importance of unmanned and AI-driven technologies in modern maritime operations.
—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Apr. 2026
The use in combat of unmanned drones, which did not exist in 1990, is rising, and these also form part of the UK’s military aircraft.
—Will Barker, TheWeek, 15 Apr. 2026
Those drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), have proven able to slip past expensive and sophisticated American anti-missile systems.
—Brian Bennett, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Monday that Ukraine had captured a Russian position using an entirely unmanned robot ground force.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 14 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 17 Apr. 2026
The use in combat of unmanned drones, which did not exist in 1990, is rising, and these also form part of the UK’s military aircraft.
—Will Barker, TheWeek, 15 Apr. 2026
Those drones, also known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), have proven able to slip past expensive and sophisticated American anti-missile systems.
—Brian Bennett, Time, 15 Apr. 2026
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Monday that Ukraine had captured a Russian position using an entirely unmanned robot ground force.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 14 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
Cite this Entry
“Unmanned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmanned. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unmanned
adjective
un·manned
ˌən-ˈmand 
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft
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