Motherly alarm not disguised (8)

I believe the answer is:

matronal

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'motherly' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'alarm not disguised' is the wordplay.
'disguised' indicates anagramming the letters.
'alarm'+'not'='alarmnot'
'alarmnot' is an anagram of 'MATRONAL'.

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I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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