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Donnish European disparaging about sex (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

erudite

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'donnish' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'european disparaging about sex' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'disparaging' becomes 'rude' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'sex' becomes 'it' (a common euphemism).
'rude' going around 'it' is 'rudite'.
'e'+'rudite'='ERUDITE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for erudite that I've seen before include "Highly learned" , "Learned and literate" , "Possessing great learning" , "Learned and scholarly" , "Well educated, having great learning" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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