Depressed academic hugging wife (4)
I believe the answer is:
down
'depressed' is the definition.
('down' can be a synonym of 'depressed')
'academic hugging wife' is the wordplay.
'academic' becomes 'don' (I've seen this before).
'hugging' indicates putting letters inside.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'don' going around 'w' is 'DOWN'.
(Other definitions for down that I've seen before include "Soft fine feathers" , "Immediately" , "Fuzz" , "Fluff - sorrowful" , "like the other set of clues" .)