Intimate a gloomy return to the East (6)
I believe the answer is:
allude
'intimate' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'a gloomy return to the east' is the wordplay.
'gloomy' becomes 'dull' (I've seen this before).
'return' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'to the east' becomes 'e' (synonyms).
'dull' in reverse letter order is 'llud'.
'a'+'llud'+'e'='ALLUDE'
(Other definitions for allude that I've seen before include "give a reference" , "Refe" , "Make reference to in passing" , "Mention; imply" , "Make indirect reference (to)" .)