Sinister vessel pursuing daughter (4)
I believe the answer is:
dark
'sinister' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'vessel pursuing daughter' is the wordplay.
'vessel' becomes 'ark' (ark is a kind of vessel**).
'pursuing' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'daughter' becomes 'd'.
'ark' after 'd' is 'DARK'.
(Other definitions for dark that I've seen before include "Closed as theatre" , "Swarthy" , "Absence of light" , "Lacking light" , "Secret, shadowed" .)