Loathsome hot barren wastes (9)
I believe the answer is:
abhorrent
'loathsome' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hot barren wastes' is the wordplay.
'wastes' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'wasted' mean this).
'hot'+'barren'='hotbarren'
'hotbarren' with letters rearranged gives 'ABHORRENT'.
(Other definitions for abhorrent that I've seen before include "far from agreeable" , "Repulsive" , "Repugnant, offensive" , "Odious, being earthborn" , "horrid" .)