Fearful sort of cavern (6)
I believe the answer is:
craven
'fearful' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'sort of cavern' is the wordplay.
'sort of' indicates an anagram.
'cavern' with letters rearranged gives 'CRAVEN'.
(Other definitions for craven that I've seen before include "Cowardly, spineless" , "Chicken" , "Cowardly - Yorkshire area" , "Without backbone" , "Lacking courage, cowardly" .)