Clowns get depressed (3)
I believe the answer is:
low
'depressed' is the definition.
(I know that depressed can be written as low)
'clowns get' is the wordplay.
'get' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (I've seen 'gets' mean this).
'LOW' is hidden within 'clowns'.
(Other definitions for low that I've seen before include "Opposite of high" , "Inferior; moo" , "Make a bovine sound" , "Unimportant sort of owl" , "Depressed; moo" .)