'Alternatively stained' (messy) (7)
I believe the answer is:
instead
'alternatively' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'stained messy' is the wordplay.
'messy' indicates anagramming the letters.
'stained' anagrammed gives 'INSTEAD'.
(Other definitions for instead that I've seen before include "Alternatively" , "as an alternative option" , "for a change" , "As a substitute" , "use this as a replacement" .)