Half sensed debate becoming a bit pedestrian (6)
I believe the answer is:
sedate
'a bit pedestrian' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'half sensed debate' is the wordplay.
'half' suggests halving the letters.
'debate' becomes 'ate' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'sensed' halved is 'sed'.
'sed'+'ate'='SEDATE'
'becoming' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sedate that I've seen before include "grave" , "not disturbed by passion or excitement?" , "Calm, unhurried" , "Placid" , "Calm and demure" .)