Crossword Genius

Charlatan out of uniform gets upset - look, give up! (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

despair

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'give up' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'charlatan out of uniform gets upset look' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'look' could be 'air' (something might have a certain air or look) and 'air' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for despair that I've seen before include "The feeling that nothing will turn out well" , "Praised (anag) - lose hope" , "Be without hope" , "displaying lack of optimism" , "sort of counsel?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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