Avoiding contact at an informal gathering (7)
I believe the answer is:
asocial
'avoiding contact' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'at an informal gathering' is the wordplay.
'at' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'an' becomes 'a'.
'informal gathering' becomes 'social' (social event).
'a' put next to 'social' is 'ASOCIAL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asocial that I've seen before include "Inconsiderate to others" , "avoiding contact with others" , "cold" , "not connected with community" , "without friends" .)