Meant to be negative indeed (7)
I believe the answer is:
denoted
'meant' is the definition.
(denoting is a kind of meaning)
'negative indeed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'negative' could be 'not' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'not' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'deed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'to be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for denoted that I've seen before include "Signified" , "Indicated or meant" .)