Was set apart in inhospitable areas (6)
I believe the answer is:
wastes
'inhospitable areas' is the definition.
'wastes' can be an answer for 'areas' (waste is a kind of area). I'm not certain of the 'inhospitable' bit.
'was set apart in' is the wordplay.
'apart' indicates anagramming the letters (the word is broken apart).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'set' anagrammed gives 'ste'.
'was' enclosing 'ste' is 'WASTES'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wastes that I've seen before include "Squanders - sweats about it" , "Uses inefficiently" .)