Father avoiding wild caper (5)
I believe the answer is:
antic
'caper' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'father avoiding wild' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation as in a priest's title).
'avoiding' suggests deleting specific letters.
'wild' becomes 'frantic' (similar in meaning).
'frantic' with 'fr' removed is 'ANTIC'.
(Other definitions for antic that I've seen before include "Playful caper" , "Grotesque, fantastic (archaic)" , "Prank" , "Tomfoolery" , "seen to be bizarre, at one time" .)