Aloof, I stand beating time (7)
I believe the answer is:
distant
'aloof' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'i stand beating time' is the wordplay.
'beating' indicates anagramming the letters.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'i'+'stand'='istand'
'istand' is an anagram of 'distan'.
'distan'+'t'='DISTANT'
(Other definitions for distant that I've seen before include "cool" , "overseas?" , "Far away" , "Aloof" , "Absent - coming from a far-away place" .)