in the way

1. 1.

   forming a hindrance, impediment, or obstruction

   “she might have succeeded in her ambition, had not circumstances been in her way”

   Synonymsin someone's way

Questions about in the way

What does in the way mean?

in the way means "forming a hindrance, impediment, or obstruction".

What is another word for in the way?

Close synonyms include in someone's way. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is in the way a common word?

in the way is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.