driverless
Americanadjective
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not having a human driver in control.
The horse became startled and the now driverless horse-drawn carriage ran into a car.
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without a human operator.
driverless machinery.
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(of a vehicle) navigated and maneuvered by a computer without a need for human control or intervention under a range of driving situations and conditions.
a driverless car.
Etymology
Origin of driverless
First recorded in 1840–1850
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
The company has a fleet of more than 500 driverless cars in Wuhan.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
It also comes one month before Tesla is expected to launch production of a driverless robotaxi called the Cybercab, without traditional controls like a steering wheel or pedals.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
The rollout will begin with data-collection vehicles before moving to supervised launches and later driverless operations.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 2026
"But is the pony quite safe?" she asked, looking back to where the governess-cart with her trunk still inside was waiting driverless outside the door.
From Rich Relatives by MacKenzie, Compton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
