Crossword Genius

'Feeling is feeling', male admitted (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sentiment

'feeling' is the definition.
(sentiment is a kind of feeling)

'feeling male admitted' is the wordplay.
'feeling' becomes 'sentient' ('sentient' can be a synonym of 'feeling'**).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'admitted' is an insertion indicator.
'sentient' placed around 'm' is 'SENTIMENT'.

'is' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for sentiment that I've seen before include "judgement" , "Emotional thought" , "Test men in, say, emotion" , "Tender or romantic emotion" , "View, opinion, feeling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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