The French academic is beguiled (3,2)
I believe the answer is:
led on
'is beguiled' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the french academic' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'academic' becomes 'don' (type of academic - especially at Oxbridge).
'le'+'don'='LED ON'
(Other definitions for led on that I've seen before include "was encouraging" , "persuaded to do something foolish" , "Persuaded - tricked" , "Took for a ride" , "Beguiled" .)