Aware male is lacking in feeling (8)
I believe the answer is:
sentient
'aware' is the definition.
(sentient means conscious or aware)
'male is lacking in feeling' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'is lacking in' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'feeling' becomes 'sentiment' (a sentiment is a feeling or view).
'sentiment' with 'm' taken away is 'SENTIENT'.
(Other definitions for sentient that I've seen before include "Able to perceive/feel" , "Capable of feeling and perceiving things" , "having power of perception" , "Having feelings" , "Endowed with feeling and consciousness" .)