Elite fellow on subordinate (6)
I believe the answer is:
flower
'elite' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'fellow on subordinate' is the wordplay.
'fellow' becomes 'f' (abbreviation - of a society etc.).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'subordinate' becomes 'lower' (synonyms).
'f'+'lower'='FLOWER'
(Other definitions for flower that I've seen before include "bloomer" , "Don, say" , "Blossom" , "rose, perhaps" , "Garden plant" .)