Weak complaint brought up by the French (6)
I believe the answer is:
feeble
'weak' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'complaint brought up by the french' is the wordplay.
'complaint' becomes 'beef' (I've seen this in another clue).
'brought up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'beef' in reverse letter order is 'feeb'.
'feeb'+'le'='FEEBLE'
(Other definitions for feeble that I've seen before include "Lacking force" , "rather weak" , "Weak, frail" , "Physically weak or lacking effectiveness" , "lacking resolve" .)