Start being maladjusted (5)
I believe the answer is:
begin
'start' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'being maladjusted' is the wordplay.
'maladjusted' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen this in other clues).
'being' anagrammed gives 'BEGIN'.
(Other definitions for begin that I've seen before include "Commence" , "Clandestine, furtive" , "Israeli statesman" , "former Israeli Nobel peace prize winner" , "Get cracking" .)