Violently elbowing wife out is contemptible (7)
I believe the answer is:
ignoble
'contemptible' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'violently elbowing wife out' is the wordplay.
'violently' is an anagram indicator (letters are violently disrupted).
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'out' is a deletion indicator.
'elbowing' with 'w' removed is 'elboing'.
'elboing' with letters rearranged gives 'IGNOBLE'.
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for ignoble that I've seen before include "in a lower category" , "I belong (anag)" , "'Dishonourable, mean (7)'" , "Unworthy" , "I belong to base sort" .)