A touch frantic, not cold and listless (9)
I believe the answer is:
apathetic
'listless' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a touch frantic' is the wordplay.
'touch' becomes 'pat' (to pat is to touch or tap).
'frantic' becomes 'hetic' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a'+'pat'+'hetic'='APATHETIC'
'not cold and' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for apathetic that I've seen before include "I hate pact, being disintersted" , "Lacking passion" , "showing no enthusiasm" , "Indifferent - without emotion" , "Listless, lacking in interest" .)