Defeat looks far from good in the record (6)
I believe the answer is:
losing
'record' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'defeat looks far from good in' is the wordplay.
'defeat looks far' becomes 'los' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'from' indicates an anagram (from the letters).
'good' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'g'+'in'='gin'
'gin' with letters rearranged gives 'ing'.
'los'+'ing'='LOSING'
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for losing that I've seen before include "Spice" , "being beaten?" , "Opposite of 9" , "Failing to keep" , "Misplacing or being defeated" .)