Feeble attempt by friend (6)
I believe the answer is:
paltry
'feeble' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'attempt by friend' is the wordplay.
'attempt' becomes 'try' (I've seen this before).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal is a kind of friend).
'try' put after 'pal' is 'PALTRY'.
(Other definitions for paltry that I've seen before include "Insignificant, trifling" , "Small and mean" , "Petty - base" , "Mean - worthless" , "Trival, Inconsequential" .)