Stepped back around person sleeping (7)
I believe the answer is:
dormant
'sleeping' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'stepped back around person' is the wordplay.
'stepped' becomes 'trod' ('tread' can be a synonym of 'step').
'back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'person' becomes 'man' (man is a kind of person).
'trod' written backwards gives 'dort'.
'dort' enclosing 'man' is 'DORMANT'.
(Other definitions for dormant that I've seen before include "Temporarily quiet" , "Inert" , "Sluggish" , "Temporarily inactive, being mordant" , "Suspended" .)