Persecuted British univeristy over false statement from director (7)
I believe the answer is:
bullied
'persecuted' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'british univeristy over false statement from director' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'british' could be 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC') and 'b' is located in the answer.
'statement' could be 'lie' (lie is a kind of statement) and 'lie' is located in the answer.
'director' could be 'd' (abbreviation eg in film reviews) and 'd' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bullied that I've seen before include "Frightened, intimidated" , "Intimidated, persecuted" , "Used strength or power to intimidate others" .)