Optimistic about working with female before sign of current depression (9)
I believe the answer is:
confident
'optimistic' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'working with female before sign of current depression' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'working' could be 'on' (on can mean working or activated) and 'on' is found within the answer.
'female' could be 'f' (abbreviation) and 'f' is found within the answer.
'before' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
'sign' could be 'id' (I.D. is an example) and 'id' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'about' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for confident that I've seen before include "Certain, sure" , "Trusting firmly" , "5 [CERTAIN]" , "Feeling certain" , "Feeling self-assured" .)