How gravely injured is an oversized confederate? (7)
I believe the answer is:
fatally
'how gravely injured is an' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'oversized confederate?' is the wordplay.
'oversized' becomes 'fat' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'confederate?' becomes 'ally' (synonyms).
'fat'+'ally'='FATALLY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fatally that I've seen before include "with no hope of revival" , "Mortally" , "producing disastrous result" , "So as to cause death" , "Might one be wounded thus" .)