Stingy niece, discontented with vessel at centre, demonstrates its tacky vulgarity? (9)
I believe the answer is:
cheapness
'centre demonstrates its tacky vulgarity?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'stingy niece discontented with vessel' is the wordplay.
'stingy' becomes 'cheap' (similar in meaning).
'discontented' suggests removing the centre (the word's contents are removed).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'vessel' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'niece' with its middle taken out is 'ne'.
'cheap'+'ne'+'ss'='CHEAPNESS'
'at' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheapness that I've seen before include "Scan sheep (anag)" , "Poor quality" .)