Left university unemployed, turning up to church optimistic (8)
I believe the answer is:
cheerful
'optimistic' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'left university unemployed turning up to church' is the wordplay.
'left university' becomes 'lu' (this might be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'unemployed' becomes 'free' (I've seen this before).
'turning up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'lu'+'free'='lufree'
'lufree' backwards is 'eerful'.
'eerful' put after 'ch' is 'CHEERFUL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cheerful that I've seen before include "Genial" , "In a happy mood" , "Lure chef into being in good spirits" , "Happy and optimistic" , "Showing good spirits" .)