Just about noble lying in state (6)
I believe the answer is:
nearly
'just about' is the definition.
('nearly' can be a synonym of 'just about')
'noble lying in state' is the wordplay.
'noble' becomes 'earl' (earl is a kind of noble).
'lying in' indicates putting letters inside.
'state' becomes 'ny' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'earl' going inside 'ny' is 'NEARLY'.
(Other definitions for nearly that I've seen before include "More or less" , "Noon at eleven fifty nine am" , "Almost, well-nigh" , "Close" , "Not entirely" .)