Bitterness of a tribe lost in deserted city (8)
I believe the answer is:
acerbity
'bitterness' is the definition.
(acerbity is a kind of bitterness)
'a tribe lost in deserted city' is the wordplay.
'lost' indicates an anagram.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'deserted' suggests removing the centre.
'city' with its middle removed is 'cy'.
'tribe' is an anagram of 'erbit'.
'erbit' placed inside 'cy' is 'cerbity'.
'a'+'cerbity'='ACERBITY'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for acerbity that I've seen before include "Sharpness, forthrightness" , "roughness" , "Acrimony, bitterness" , "Bitterness, sharpness" , "Sharp/forthright manner" .)