Criminal article about current female (5)
I believe the answer is:
thief
'criminal' is the definition.
(I know that thief is a type of criminal)
'article about current female' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'current' becomes 'I' (symbol for electric current).
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'the' going around 'i' is 'thie'.
'thie'+'f'='THIEF'
(Other definitions for thief that I've seen before include "One who is fourth in line after a rich man" , "One's inclined to take" , "Afternoon break" , "Criminal" , "One who steals" .)