Bitter half seen in soothing surroundings (9)
I believe the answer is:
resentful
'bitter' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'half seen in soothing surroundings' is the wordplay.
'half' suggests halving the letters.
'in soothing' becomes 'restful' (synonyms. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.).
'surroundings' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'seen' halved is 'en'.
'en' put into 'restful' is 'RESENTFUL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for resentful that I've seen before include "Feeling indignation" , "Embittered - nurse left (anag)" , "Tiny wave" , "Grudging" , "Taking ill" .)