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.
The Los Angeles Police Department has increasingly come to rely on small, unmanned aerial vehicles since launching a “drone as a first responder” pilot program in July.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
A U.S. defense official said the military was using a combination of manned and unmanned capabilities in the countermine operation, but declined to comment on operational specifics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026
War is increasingly defined by unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and mass precision.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Last year, German defence tech firm Helsing opened a factory on the city's outskirts, creating 50 jobs producing unmanned submarine gliders.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
We then got on to other Arctic legends—the Norwegian ship that's been drifting unmanned for sixty years, stuff like that.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
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.
