Criminal defiant -- cash almost captured (10)
I believe the answer is:
fascinated
'captured' is the definition.
('fascinate' can be a synonym of 'capture')
'criminal defiant cash almost' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'defiant'+'cash'='defiantcash'
'defiantcash' with its last letter taken away is 'defiantcas'.
'defiantcas' is an anagram of 'FASCINATED'.
(Other definitions for fascinated that I've seen before include "Irresistably attracted" , "Captivated" , "spellbound" , "captured" , "Irresistibly interested" .)