Short priest, one despised (3)
I believe the answer is:
cur
'one despised' is the definition.
(I know that curs are despised people)
'short priest' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'priest' becomes 'cure' ('priest' in French).
'cure' with its final letter taken off is 'CUR'.
(Other definitions for cur that I've seen before include "Useless dog" , "Dog of low breed" , "Mongrel - cowardly person" , "Mongrel; rascal" , "Worthless or bad-tempered dog" .)