Jerks following celebrities reflected meaningful study? (9)
I believe the answer is:
semantics
'meaningful study?' is the definition.
(the academic study of meaning)
'jerks following celebrities reflected' is the wordplay.
'jerks' becomes 'tics'.
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'celebrities' becomes 'names' (as in a phrase like 'a big name in fashion').
'reflected' says the letters should be written backwards (letters reflected back).
'names' backwards is 'seman'.
'tics' after 'seman' is 'SEMANTICS'.
(Other definitions for semantics that I've seen before include "The significance of a text" , "The meaning attached to words" , "Branch of linguistics concerned with meanings" , "Main sects (anag.)" , "Branch of linguistics to do with meaning" .)