Badly affected blonde's retired (8)
I believe the answer is:
blighted
'retired' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'badly affected blonde's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'blonde' could be 'light' (I've seen this before) and 'light' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'bed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for blighted that I've seen before include "Spoiled, harmed; infected" , "Damaged" , "Spoilt, harmed" , "Withered with disease like potatoes in famine" .)