Inferior hat worn by the man (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheap
'inferior' is the definition.
('cheap' can be similar in meaning to 'inferior')
'hat worn by the man' is the wordplay.
'hat' becomes 'cap' (I've seen this before).
'worn by' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'the man' becomes 'he'.
'cap' placed around 'he' is 'CHEAP'.
(Other definitions for cheap that I've seen before include "bargain" , "A snip" , "Mean" , "Base" , "not doing much damage" .)