Doubt small Frenchman after reported immoral act, here in France (8)
I believe the answer is:
cynicism
'doubt' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.
'small frenchman after reported immoral act here in france' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'small' could be 'sm' and 'sm' is found within the answer.
'here in france' could be 'ici' ('here' in French) and 'ici' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cynicism that I've seen before include "Attitude that people's motives are generally bad" , "Pessimism and distrust" , "Disbelief" , "Inclination to believe the worst of people" , "Attitude that people are generally selfish and untrustworthy" .)