unmanned

adjective

un·​manned ˌən-ˈmand How to pronounce unmanned (audio)
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 Among these items are the long-distance unmanned aerial vehicles that have struck oil facilities deep inside Russia in recent weeks, as well as the sea drones that have caused severe damage to Russia’s Black Sea fleet and helped reopen sea lanes to Ukrainian grain exports. David L. Stern, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024 In Kim Stanley Robinson’s prescient science fiction novel The Ministry for the Future, a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles is deployed to crash an airliner. IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024 The targets included underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one-way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter, said DoD spokesperson U.S. Army Major Pete Nguyen. Louis Casiano, Fox News, 28 Feb. 2024 With the assistance of Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand, the coalition struck underground weapon storage facilities, missile storage facilities, unmanned anti-aircraft systems, air defense systems, command centers and helicopters and missile launchers. Forbes International, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 One strike was against a mobile missile launcher and the other against an unmanned aerial system, the sources said. Doha Madani, NBC News, 21 Feb. 2024 Other priorities include: what stress to place on longer-range strikes against Russian infrastructure such as fuel depots and military bases, integrating F-16 combat aircraft into battle plans, and the rapid development of the next generation of unmanned systems. Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, 10 Feb. 2024 There, in the 500 block of South Sharp Street, the complaint says, troopers encountered 44-year-old Matthew R. Hebert, clad in a Ravens jersey, who professed to be unfamiliar with many of the government rules regarding drones — known as unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, in regulatory parlance. Paul Duggan, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 But as the war rages on, another kind of unmanned robot has increasingly appeared on the front-lines: the unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV. Matt Burgess, WIRED, 3 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unmanned.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1544, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of unmanned was in 1544

Dictionary Entries Near unmanned

Cite this Entry

“Unmanned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmanned. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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