Aristocrat left overwhelmed by attention (4)
I believe the answer is:
earl
'aristocrat' is the definition.
(I know that earl is a type of aristocrat)
'left overwhelmed by attention' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'overwhelmed by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go on top of others).
'attention' becomes 'ear' (having someone's ear is having their attention).
'l' put after 'ear' is 'EARL'.
(Other definitions for earl that I've seen before include "Real (anag) - nobleman" , "Countess his wife" , "Noble title" , "Peer of the realm" , "Real kind of English lord" .)