A party, but avoiding contact with others (7)
I believe the answer is:
asocial
'avoiding contact with others' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a party' is the wordplay.
'party' becomes 'social' (social can mean a party or event).
'a'+'social'='ASOCIAL'
'but' is the link.
(Other definitions for asocial that I've seen before include "Avoiding company" , "not connected with community" , "avoiding contact with others" , "without friends" , "Not fond of company, perhaps inconsiderate" .)