Formal description of carbohydrate (7)
I believe the answer is:
starchy
'formal' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'description of carbohydrate' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'carbohydrate' could be 'starch' (starch is a kind of carbohydrate) and 'starch' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'y' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for starchy that I've seen before include "Unbending" , "Stiff, formal" , "Stiff and formalistic" , "Stiff, like potatoes" , "Conventional" .)