Perhaps a fatalist is a failure (2,5)
I believe the answer is:
no hoper
'failure' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'perhaps a fatalist' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' could be 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day') and 'per' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'is a' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for no hoper that I've seen before include "Someone unable to comprehend" , "One with poor prospects" , "an erroneous description of Pandora's box?" , "something that has absolutely zilch chance of success" , "A most unlikely prospect" .)