The French worker was inclined (5)
I believe the answer is:
leant
'was inclined' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french worker' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'le'+'ant'='LEANT'
(Other definitions for leant that I've seen before include "bent over" , "Had tendency" , "Advanced" , "Rested sideways (on something)" , "Tilted" .)