Shabby English premier rejected in Knut cryptic (7)
I believe the answer is:
unkempt
'shabby' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'english premier rejected in knut cryptic' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'premier' becomes 'pm' (synonyms).
'rejected' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'cryptic' is an anagram indicator (a cryptic or obscure order of the letters).
'pm' backwards is 'mp'.
'e'+'mp'='emp'
'knut' is an anagram of 'unkt'.
'emp' inserted within 'unkt' is 'UNKEMPT'.
(Other definitions for unkempt that I've seen before include "Badly turned out" , "Uncombed and untidy" , "Of uncared for appearance" , "in a mess" , "With neglected look" .)