Hit a balding criminal perceived unfavourably (2,1,3,5)

I believe the answer is:

in a bad light

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'perceived unfavourably' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'hit a balding criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'hit'+'a'+'balding'='hitabalding'
'hitabalding' anagrammed gives 'IN A BAD LIGHT'.

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(Another definition for in a bad light that I've seen is " (Seen) unfavourably".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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