Bridge player in team is spiteful (5)
I believe the answer is:
snide
'spiteful' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'bridge player in team' is the wordplay.
'bridge player' becomes 'n' (bridge players are North, East, South, West).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'n' going within 'side' is 'SNIDE'.
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for snide that I've seen before include "Slyly derogatory" , "Derogatory, sneering" , "Derogatory, showing malice" , "Derogatory, mocking" , "Sarcastic" .)