Penniless knight, shattered (6)
I believe the answer is:
broken
'shattered' is the definition.
('broken' can be similar in meaning to 'shattered')
'penniless knight' is the wordplay.
'penniless' becomes 'broke' (I've seen this before).
'knight' becomes 'n' (chess).
'broke'+'n'='BROKEN'
(Other definitions for broken that I've seen before include "Defective" , "Bust" , "Interrupted; smashed" , "Smashed, in pieces" , "Busted, damaged" .)