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
What to know about Artemis II mission On Wednesday, April 1, Artemis II successfully launched into space, marking NASA's first manned moon mission in over 50 years.
—
Julia Gomez, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
The early indications that the F-15E was brought down by enemy fire would mark the first time Iran has successfully downed a manned American aircraft in the war, which started in February.
—Luis Martinez, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
Not a single manned plane has yet been lost over Iran.
—Bret Stephens, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
This approach, often referred to as manned-unmanned teaming, aims to increase operational effectiveness while reducing risk to personnel.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 26 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for manned
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Julia Gomez, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
The early indications that the F-15E was brought down by enemy fire would mark the first time Iran has successfully downed a manned American aircraft in the war, which started in February.
—Luis Martinez, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026
Not a single manned plane has yet been lost over Iran.
—Bret Stephens, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026
This approach, often referred to as manned-unmanned teaming, aims to increase operational effectiveness while reducing risk to personnel.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 26 Mar. 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 8 Apr. 2026.
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manned
adjective
: carrying or performed by a person
manned spaceflight
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