Far from lively prisoner sheltering a new one (9)
I believe the answer is:
inanimate
'far from lively' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'prisoner sheltering a new one' is the wordplay.
'prisoner' becomes 'inmate' (inmate can mean someone in prison).
'sheltering' indicates putting letters inside.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'a'+'n'+'i'='ani'
'inmate' going around 'ani' is 'INANIMATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inanimate that I've seen before include "Not alive" , "spiritless" , "Dull" , "Unlikely to move" , "Without life" .)