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
Advertisement Rashid was key in the operations of Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programme, mostly consisting of the use of drones in warfare.
—
Callum Sutherland, Time, 13 June 2025
Scientists used an unmanned underwater vehicle to survey the wreck and captured images of some of its cargo, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity on Tuesday.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 11 June 2025
Ukraine targeted at least four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets.
—Tom Balmforth, USA Today, 5 June 2025
An increase in the drone supply—in addition to their effectiveness in combat operations—is reflective of a strategic adaptation by NATO to new forms of warfare that increasingly rely on unmanned systems.
—Shane Croucher
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
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Callum Sutherland, Time, 13 June 2025
Scientists used an unmanned underwater vehicle to survey the wreck and captured images of some of its cargo, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity on Tuesday.
—Jack Guy, CNN Money, 11 June 2025
Ukraine targeted at least four air bases across Russia using 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from containers close to the targets.
—Tom Balmforth, USA Today, 5 June 2025
An increase in the drone supply—in addition to their effectiveness in combat operations—is reflective of a strategic adaptation by NATO to new forms of warfare that increasingly rely on unmanned systems.
—Shane Croucher
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 June 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 18 Jun. 2025.
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unmanned
adjective
un·manned
ˌən-ˈmand 
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft
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