Sleeping duke matron molested (7)
I believe the answer is:
dormant
'sleeping' is the definition.
(I know that sleeping can be written as dormant)
'duke matron molested' is the wordplay.
'duke' becomes 'd' (abbreviation).
'molested' is an anagram indicator.
'matron' with letters rearranged gives 'ormant'.
'd'+'ormant'='DORMANT'
(Other definitions for dormant that I've seen before include "Temporarily quiet" , "Deeply sleeping" , "Mordant about lying inactive" , "Sleeping or inactive, say volcano" , "Inert" .)