Crossword Genius

Sneering at origins of severe cases of rampant new flu variant (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scornful

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sneering' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'origins of severe cases of rampant new flu variant' is the wordplay.
'origins of' suggests taking the first letters.
'variant' becomes 'ul' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The first letters of 'severe cases of rampant new flu' is 'scornf'.
'scornf'+'ul'='SCORNFUL'

'at' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scornful that I've seen before include "Showing contempt for" , "Disdainful, contemptuous" , "sneering?" , "Dismissive, contemptuous" , "Contemptuous or derisory" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app