Dunce, having lost a cent, danced in the buff (4)
I believe the answer is:
nude
'in the buff' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'dunce having lost a cent danced' is the wordplay.
'having lost' is a deletion indicator.
'a cent' becomes 'c'.
'danced' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'dance' mean this).
'dunce' with 'c' taken away is 'dune'.
'dune' anagrammed gives 'NUDE'.
(Other definitions for nude that I've seen before include "Completely unclothed" , "Flesh-coloured" , "Naked art subject" , "being out of the habit?" , "Undraped figure" .)