Cynical lad we treated during plague (5-5)

I believe the answer is:

world-weary

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'cynical' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'lad we treated during plague' is the wordplay.
'treated' indicates an anagram.
'during' indicates putting letters inside.
'plague' becomes 'worry' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'lad'+'we'='ladwe'
'ladwe' is an anagram of 'ldwea'.
'ldwea' placed within 'worry' is 'WORLD-WEARY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for world-weary that I've seen before include "Fulsomely fatigued" , "Bored with life" , "Tired of life" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times.

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