unmanned

1 of 2

adjective

un·​manned ˌən-ˈmand How to pronounce unmanned (audio)
Synonyms of unmannednext
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.

unmanned

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of unman

Examples of unmanned in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
This combination of an unmanned aircraft, precision guidance and specialised warheads offers a potentially scalable approach to deep-strike operations. — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026 Police then deployed an unmanned aircraft to monitor the animal's movements inside the home. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine will never target civilian aircraft, regardless of airspace, but said the massive amount of unmanned aerial vehicles is beginning to render the region too dangerous to navigate. — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 1 Sep. 2026 Drug cartels, in the meantime, have adjusted to the threat to vessels on the water, increasingly ferrying narcotics via unmanned semisubmersibles -- drone submarines that navigate autonomously -- a former intelligence official told ABC News. — Laura Romero, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for unmanned

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1544, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of unmanned was in 1544

Rhymes for unmanned

See All Rhymes for unmanned

Browse Nearby Words

unmanly
unmanned
unmannered
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unmanned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmanned. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Kids Definition

unmanned

adjective
un·​manned ˌən-ˈmand How to pronounce unmanned (audio)
ˈən-
: having no crew aboard
an unmanned spacecraft

More from Merriam-Webster on unmanned

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for unmanned

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