unmanned

adjective

un·​manned ˌən-ˈmand 

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 unmanned aerial vehicles are used for real estate, aerial photography, industrial inspections, agriculture and even work for insurance companies. —Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2024

For example, Ukraine has been testing a variety of unmanned technologies—basically robots—that can be used for mining bridges, evacuating the wounded, and delivering weapons. —Nataliya Gumenyuk, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1544, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

unmanned

adjective

un·​manned ˌən-ˈmand 

ˈən-

: having no crew aboard

an unmanned spacecraft