Rejects painting by university graduate - it comes as a shock (6)
I believe the answer is:
trauma
'shock' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'rejects painting by university graduate it comes as a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'university' could be 'u' and 'u' is found within the answer.
'graduate' could be 'ma' (abbreviation for Master of Arts) and 'ma' is located in the answer.
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is located in the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for trauma that I've seen before include "Bodily or mental shock" , "Bodily or mental injury" , "Physical injury (medical)" , "Deep distress; injury" , "Shock with long-lasting effects" .)