Desolate pub gets torn apart, almost (6)
I believe the answer is:
barren
'desolate' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'pub gets torn apart almost' is the wordplay.
'pub' becomes 'bar' (I've seen this before).
'gets' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'torn apart' becomes 'rent' (past tense of 'rend', to tear or rip).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'rent' with its last letter taken away is 'ren'.
'bar'+'ren'='BARREN'
(Other definitions for barren that I've seen before include "By way of illustration" , "Producing little vegetation" , "Unable to bear fruit, not fertile" , "Infertile, unable to grow things" , "'Desolate, fallow (6)'" .)