Awfully curt cad or knave perhaps (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
court card
'knave perhaps' is the definition.
(knave is a kind of court card)
'awfully curt cad or' is the wordplay.
'awfully' is an anagram indicator.
'curt'+'cad'+'or'='curtcador'
'curtcador' anagrammed gives 'COURT-CARD'.
(Other definitions for court card that I've seen before include "queen perhaps" , "King, queen or knave, in pack" , "King, queen or jack" , "king, perhaps" , "King or queen, say" .)