Study absorbing info about English traitor (8)
I believe the answer is:
renegade
'traitor' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'study absorbing info about english' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'read' (synonyms).
'absorbing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'info' becomes 'gen' (informal term for information).
'about' says the letters should be written backwards.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'gen' reversed gives 'neg'.
'read' placed around 'neg' is 'renegad'.
'renegad'+'e'='RENEGADE'
(Other definitions for renegade that I've seen before include "Rebel, outlaw" , "One who deserts a cause or group" , "Deserter, turncoat" , "Treacherous deserter" , "Turncoat, rebel" .)