Scared female given severe reprimand (7)
I believe the answer is:
fearful
'scared' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'female given severe reprimand' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'given' says to put letters next to each other.
'severe reprimand' becomes 'earful' (I've seen this before).
'f'+'earful'='FEARFUL'
(Other definitions for fearful that I've seen before include "Timid" , "Timorous; terrible" , "Frightened, apprehensive" , "Scared" , "awful!" .)