Delicate and charming female trapped by rising river (5)
I believe the answer is:
elfin
'delicate and charming' is the definition.
'female trapped by rising river' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'trapped by' is an insertion indicator.
'rising' is a reversal indicator (going up in a down clue).
'river' becomes 'nile' (Nile is an example**).
'nile' written backwards gives 'elin'.
'f' inserted within 'elin' is 'ELFIN'.
(Other definitions for elfin that I've seen before include "Describing Santa's helpers" , "Fairy-like" , "Sprightly" , "Small and fragile" , "Small, mischievous and charming" .)