see usage paragraph below
: carrying, staffed, or performed by one or more people
a manned security booth
manned spaceflight
a manned mission
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 non-gender-specific terms, preferring such descriptors as human, piloted, and crewed for the former, and unpiloted and uncrewed for the latter.
Examples of manned in a Sentence
a manned mission to the moon
Recent Examples on the Web
Speaking at the Army’s UAS and Launched Effects Summit at Fort Rucker, Alabama, in August, the unnamed company allegedly revealed during a panel that their manned aerial craft was to blame for the scare across New Jersey’s skies, an attendee told The New York Post.
—
Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Using both manned and unmanned submersible vehicles, researchers off the coast of Japan set out to look at multiple vent fields, according to the study.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2025
Astronaut Walter Schirra took the first Speedy to space in 1962, before NASA greenlit the model for all manned space missions in 1965.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2025
Eyes on the sky Recent Russian airspace violations in the Baltic Sea region -- both by manned and unmanned aircraft -- have ratcheted up tensions.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for manned
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Using both manned and unmanned submersible vehicles, researchers off the coast of Japan set out to look at multiple vent fields, according to the study.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2025
Astronaut Walter Schirra took the first Speedy to space in 1962, before NASA greenlit the model for all manned space missions in 1965.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2025
Eyes on the sky Recent Russian airspace violations in the Baltic Sea region -- both by manned and unmanned aircraft -- have ratcheted up tensions.
—David Brennan, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for manned
Cite this Entry
“Manned.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manned. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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manned
adjective
: carrying or performed by a person
manned spaceflight
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