Crossword Genius

Scornful humorist disheartened swimmer... (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

withering

'scornful' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'humorist disheartened swimmer' is the wordplay.
'humorist' becomes 'wit' (wit is a kind of humorist).
'disheartened' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'swimmer' becomes 'herring' (herring is a type of fish).
'herring' with its centre removed is 'hering'.
'wit'+'hering'='WITHERING'

(Other definitions for withering that I've seen before include "Devastating" , "Supercilious" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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