Man stupidly tries to make impression (8)
I believe the answer is:
register
'make impression' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'man stupidly tries' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'reg' (short for Reginald).
'stupidly' indicates anagramming the letters (a stupid ordering of the letters).
'tries' anagrammed gives 'ister'.
'reg'+'ister'='REGISTER'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for register that I've seen before include "Enrol, to vote perhaps" , "To express" , "Official list of names" , "Official record of names etc." , "Make an impression: sign on" .)