Crossword Genius

Fail to justify fellow's conviction (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

belief

'conviction' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'fail to justify fellow's' is the wordplay.
'fail to justify' becomes 'belie' (I've seen this before).
'fellow' becomes 'f' (abbreviation - of a society etc.).
'belie'+'f'='BELIEF'

(Other definitions for belief that I've seen before include "Faith, doctrine" , "Tenet, creed" , "Trust, faith (6)" , "Persuasion" , "Conviction, faith" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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