The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word STILTED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
S
T
I
L
T
E
D
More clues leading to the result STILTED
- Leader of society, inclined to be stiff
- Awkward son went off the straight and narrow
- Old Bob’s inclined to be very formal
- Awkward when trying to gain height thus?
- Son inclined to be awkward
- Poorly expressed section, with a bias
- Pompous knights finally unseated in joust
- Wooden ship’s prow heeled over
- Pompous, like one able to look down from a great height?
- End of italics slanted and unnatural
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "unnatural" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case unnatural = stilted.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does STILTED mean?
STILTED verb- To raise on stilts, or as if on stilts
- Making use of or possessing a stilt or stilts, or things resembling stilts; raised on stilts.
- Elevated or raised in a contrived or unnatural way; stiff and artificially formal or pompous; also, depending on redundant, unnecessary elements.
- Of a building or architectural feature such as an arch or vault: supported by stilts; also (generally) having the main part raised above the usual level by some structure.