Inferior note held by fellow (5)
I believe the answer is:
cheap
'inferior' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'note held by fellow' is the wordplay.
'note' becomes 'e' (musical note).
'held by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'fellow' becomes 'chap' (both can mean a man).
'e' going within 'chap' is 'CHEAP'.
(Other definitions for cheap that I've seen before include "Of very poor quality" , "Inexpensive or tasteless" , "Tawdry - inexpensive" , "Base" , "Budget -cheesy" .)