English literature is initially terribly highbrow? (7)
I believe the answer is:
elitist
'highbrow?' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'english literature is initially terribly' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'literature' becomes 'lit'.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'terribly' is 't'.
'e'+'lit'+'is'+'t'='ELITIST'
(Other definitions for elitist that I've seen before include "Member of a self-regarding group" , "(One who is) discriminating in favour of select few" , "one snobbishly prefers" , "Favouring high society" , "One feeling superior" .)