Tearful wife, worried by half-cut Tory (6)
I believe the answer is:
watery
'tearful' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'wife worried by half-cut tory' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'worried' becomes 'ate' (something worrying may eat someone up).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'half cut' suggests halving the letters.
'tory' cut in half is 'ry'.
'w'+'ate'+'ry'='WATERY'
(Other definitions for watery that I've seen before include "Aqueous" , "Weak, too diluted" , "(Of food) thin, tasteless" , "Insipid" , "Dilute; weak, pale" .)