Hostile Republican consumed in obsession (11)
I believe the answer is:
threatening
'hostile' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'republican consumed in obsession' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'consumed' becomes 'eaten' (similar in meaning).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'obsession' becomes 'thing' (as in 'having a thing' for someone or something).
'r'+'eaten'='reaten'
'reaten' placed into 'thing' is 'THREATENING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for threatening that I've seen before include "giving a warning for the future" , "Minatory" , "Dangerous" , "Putting at risk" , "Scary" .)