Pale in a female way (5)
I believe the answer is:
ashen
'pale' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'in a female way' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'female' becomes 'hen' (female chicken).
'way' becomes 's' (Compass direction - South).
'a'+'hen'='ahen'
'ahen' going around 's' is 'ASHEN'.
(Other definitions for ashen that I've seen before include "(Of face) pale with fear" , "Wan - wooden - pallid" , "Deathly pale" , "pasty" , "Pallid like fire residue" .)