Depict as a sinister man (7)
I believe the answer is:
portray
'depict' is the definition.
(I know that depict can be written as portray)
'a sinister man' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'man' could be 'port' and 'port' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for portray that I've seen before include "Play" , "Describe in words or make a picture" , "sketch" , "Depict in art" , "Use words to describe" .)