Not being straight in dreadful court (8)
I believe the answer is:
indirect
'not being straight' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'in dreadful court' is the wordplay.
'dreadful' becomes 'dire' (synonyms).
'court' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'in'+'dire'+'ct'='INDIRECT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for indirect that I've seen before include "Circuitous, oblique" , "Circumlocutory" , "Not following the shortest way" , "(Of tax) levied on goods rather than income" , "Neither straight or straightforward" .)