Underhand opening for Dean and Prior to dismiss Priest (7)
I believe the answer is:
devious
'underhand' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'opening for dean and prior to dismiss priest' is the wordplay.
'opening for dean' becomes 'd' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'prior' becomes 'previous' (I've seen this before).
'to dismiss' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'priest' becomes 'pr'.
'previous' with 'pr' removed is 'evious'.
'd'+'evious'='DEVIOUS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for devious that I've seen before include "Underhand -- sneaky" , "Underhand, deceitful" , "Not straightforward or direct" , "Cunning and deceitful" , "Not straightforward, underhand" .)