Untidy cook reads diary (10)

I believe the answer is:

disarrayed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'untidy' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'cook reads diary' is the wordplay.
'cook' indicates anagramming the letters.
'reads'+'diary'='readsdiary'
'readsdiary' is an anagram of 'DISARRAYED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for disarrayed that I've seen is " Flustered".)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app