Colourless doctor gains a listener (5)
I believe the answer is:
drear
'colourless' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'doctor gains a listener' is the wordplay.
'doctor' becomes 'dr' (abbreviation).
'gains' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a listener' becomes 'ear' (body part which hears or listens).
'dr'+'ear'='DREAR'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for drear that I've seen before include "miserable" , "grave" , "Literarily gloomy" , "Poetic dull and uninteresting" , "Gloomy and cheerless" .)