I object to article - it's despicable (4)
I believe the answer is:
mean
'despicable' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'i object to article' is the wordplay.
'i object' becomes 'me'.
'to article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'me'+'an'='MEAN'
'it's' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for mean that I've seen before include "Intend - average - poor" , "The average could be miserly" , "middle course" , "Aim - low - average" , "Bad-tempered" .)