unmanned
Americanadjective
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without the physical presence of a person or people on board; uncrewed.
an unmanned spacecraft.
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Falconry. (of a captured hawk) untrained for hunting with a master; unmade.
adjective
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lacking personnel or crew
an unmanned ship
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(of aircraft, spacecraft, etc) operated by automatic or remote control
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uninhabited
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falconry (of a hawk or falcon) not yet trained to accept humans
Etymology
Origin of unmanned
First recorded in 1535–45; un- 1 ( def. ) + manned ( def. )
Explanation
Something that's unmanned doesn't have a driver, pilot, captain, or anyone else controlling or steering it. An unmanned space mission is launched without human passengers or crew. When a vehicle is unmanned, it's controlled from far away or by a robotic or autopilot system. Aerial vehicles like drones, surveillance planes, and spacecraft usually have cameras so that people on the ground can see what is happening nearby or beneath them. Other things are sometimes unmanned as well: "The reference desk was unmanned, so I couldn't ask my question."
Vocabulary lists containing unmanned
Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 17–April 23, 2021
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"Going to the Moon"
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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.
Major drone manufacturers AeroVironment, Textron, Tekever and Boeing-owned Insitu already use the technology and, in January, the Pentagon ordered sensors for an unmanned reconnaissance craft to support what it called an urgent operational need.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
It has "likely fielded a fully autonomous unmanned system in combat", according to an April 2026 report by Kateryna Bondar, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
That list includes 10 unmanned aerial vehicles and two naval drones, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
The unmanned vessel, suspected to be of Ukrainian origin, was found in a cave near Lefkada on Greece's western coast on Thursday with its engine still running.
From BBC • May 9, 2026
The Soviet Union maintains an active program of unmanned planetary exploration.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
