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 company also pointed out that traditional threats like combat aircraft and missiles are joined by numerous unmanned systems, enabling smaller units to conduct aerial reconnaissance, fire control and airstrikes.
—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 4 Apr. 2026
The proposal, called the American Security Robotics Act, targets unmanned ground systems.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2026
They are being replaced by the Independence-class of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), which rely on unmanned systems and helicopters to find and destroy them.
—Tom Bowman, NPR, 1 Apr. 2026
There was also an unmanned booth with a sign advertising gift bags for children, where Vargas' daughter and a few other kids began creating a gift bag.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unmanned
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 4 Apr. 2026
The proposal, called the American Security Robotics Act, targets unmanned ground systems.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2026
They are being replaced by the Independence-class of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), which rely on unmanned systems and helicopters to find and destroy them.
—Tom Bowman, NPR, 1 Apr. 2026
There was also an unmanned booth with a sign advertising gift bags for children, where Vargas' daughter and a few other kids began creating a gift bag.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 31 Mar. 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 8 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unmanned
adjective
un·manned
ˌən-ˈmand 
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft
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