It looks like this — foreign character oddly missing clothes (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
minus sign
'it looks like' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'foreign character oddly missing clothes' is the wordplay.
'foreign character' becomes 'nu' (Greek letter).
'oddly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'clothes' is an insertion indicator (some letters clothe or cover others).
'missing' is an anagram of 'missign'.
'nu' put into 'missign' is 'MINUS SIGN'.
'this' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for minus sign that I've seen before include "Symbol indicating subtraction" , "indicating deduction!" , "Subtraction indicator" , "indication of negativity?" , "Maths operator" .)