Mournful glee clubs playing around Iowa (7)
I believe the answer is:
elegiac
'mournful' is the definition.
(synonym)
'glee clubs playing around iowa' is the wordplay.
'clubs' becomes 'c' (abbreviation used in card games such as bridge).
'playing' is an anagram indicator.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'iowa' becomes 'ia' (standard US state two-letter abbreviation).
'glee'+'c'='gleec'
'gleec' is an anagram of 'elegc'.
'elegc' enclosing 'ia' is 'ELEGIAC'.
(Other definitions for elegiac that I've seen before include "Funereal" , "Mournful or sad as poem may be" , "Mournful like a sorrowful poem" , "Mournful as in Gray's poem" , "Like classical couplets" .)