Lack of American sense (4)
I believe the answer is:
nous
'sense' is the definition.
(I know that nous is a type of sense)
'lack of american' is the wordplay.
'lack of' becomes 'no' (lack of money is no money).
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'no'+'us'='NOUS'
(Other definitions for nous that I've seen before include "Abroad we" , "Savvy" , "Common sense: mind or reason" , "How the French describe their own" , "We, in France, have common sense" .)