Demure lure of French is absent (3)
I believe the answer is:
coy
'demure' is the definition.
('coy' can be a synonym of 'demure')
'lure of french is absent' is the wordplay.
'lure' becomes 'decoy' (decoying is a kind of luring).
'of french' becomes 'de'.
'is absent' suggests deleting specific letters.
'decoy' with 'de' taken out is 'COY'.
(Other definitions for coy that I've seen before include "Reserved" , "Pretending to be shy or embarrassed" , "Affectedly modest or shy" , "Pretending modesty" , "reluctant to divulge information" .)