Malleable ring twisted around cube (8)
I believe the answer is:
obedient
'malleable' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'ring twisted around cube' is the wordplay.
'ring' becomes 'o'.
'twisted' becomes 'bent' ('bend' can be a synonym of 'twist'**).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'cube' becomes 'die' (die is a kind of cube).
'bent' enclosing 'die' is 'bedient'.
'o'+'bedient'='OBEDIENT'
(Other definitions for obedient that I've seen before include "Like monk" , "Dutiful" , "Doing as one's told" , "Willing to comply" , "Doing what one is told, compliant" .)