Shorthand is as terse in reverse (8)
I believe the answer is:
disaster
'reverse' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'shorthand is as terse in' is the wordplay.
'in' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'DISASTER' can be found hidden inside 'shorthand is as terse'.
(Other definitions for disaster that I've seen before include "Star dies (anag)" , "Extreme event resulting in great loss and misfortune" , "Calamity, tragedy" , "not a success!" , "Catastrophic occurrence" .)