Sadly coming short (6)
I believe the answer is:
gnomic
'short' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'sadly coming' is the wordplay.
'sadly' is an anagram indicator.
'coming' with letters rearranged gives 'GNOMIC'.
(Other definitions for gnomic that I've seen before include "pithy remark" , "Enigmatic; ambiguous" , "Proverbial" , "Coming out using aphorisms or maxims" , "Of pithy writing embodying some moral precept - coming (anag)" .)