Damned business bigwig, highly regarded (9)
I believe the answer is:
execrated
'damned business' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'bigwig highly regarded' is the wordplay.
'bigwig' becomes 'exec' (I've seen this in another clue).
'highly regarded' becomes 'rated' (I've seen this before).
'exec'+'rated'='EXECRATED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for execrated that I've seen before include "Cursed; detested" , "Condemned" .)