A female keeping gents perhaps distant (5)
I believe the answer is:
aloof
'distant' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'a female keeping gents' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'keeping' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters kept inside).
'gents' becomes 'loo' (gents toilet).
'a'+'f'='af'
'af' enclosing 'loo' is 'ALOOF'.
'perhaps' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for aloof that I've seen before include "Haughty and distant like a fool" , "A fool being cool and remote" , "Snooty" , "Withdrawn, supercilious" , "Unpleasantly cold" .)