Always highly regarded in red (4)
I believe the answer is:
ever
'always' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'highly regarded in red' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'red' could be 'r' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'r' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'eve' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ever that I've seen before include "To the end of time" , "constantly" , "On any occasion" , "Possibly" , "In perpetuity" .)