The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word LOUCHE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
L
O
U
C
H
E
More clues leading to the result LOUCHE
- Disreputable thug wasting time and energy casing church
- Disreputable, extremely short, wasn’t standing up straight
- Sinister indication of pain in left side of eye
- Seedy, the French housing? ‘That hurts!’
- Shady borders of lime, in which I’m suffering
- Shifty hooligan not entirely revolutionary
- Endlessly noisy revolutionary seen as sinister
- Disreputable line that hurts Spain
- Rakish, the Parisian stifling cry of pain
- Shifty, shifty clue about old husband undergoing divorce?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "sinister" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sinister = louche.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 LOUCHE mean?
LOUCHE verb- To make (an alcoholic beverage, e.g. absinthe or ouzo) cloudy by mixing it with water, due to the presence of anethole. This is known as the ouzo effect.
- Of questionable taste or morality; decadent.
- Not reputable or decent.
- Unconventional and slightly disreputable in an attractive manner; raffish, rakish.