Like a desperate male incarcerated (6)
I believe the answer is:
admire
'like' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a desperate male incarcerated' is the wordplay.
'desperate' becomes 'dire' (I've seen this before).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'incarcerated' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'dire' enclosing 'm' is 'dmire'.
'a'+'dmire'='ADMIRE'
(Other definitions for admire that I've seen before include "Esteem, have high regard for" , "Have respect for, esteem" , "Think highly of, esteem" , "Respect greatly" , "Idolise" .)