Hostile present after work died (7)
I believe the answer is:
opposed
'hostile' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'present after work died' is the wordplay.
'present' becomes 'pose' (synonyms).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'work' becomes 'op' (common abbreviation for 'opus').
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'pose' put after 'op' is 'oppose'.
'oppose'+'d'='OPPOSED'
(Other definitions for opposed that I've seen before include "Withstood" , "likely to refuse?" , "Objected to" , "Took contrary position to" , "Anti" .)