Poor way to refer to uprising (8)
I believe the answer is:
pathetic
'poor' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'way to refer to uprising' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'path' (synonyms).
'to refer to' becomes 'cite' (synonyms).
'uprising' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'cite' written backwards gives 'etic'.
'path'+'etic'='PATHETIC'
(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Lacking forcefulness" , "Pitiable - paltry - touching" , "Miserably inadequate - way to tip cheat" , "Tip cheat - truly sad" , "Arousing pity or sadness" .)