Private wears no pearls (8)
I believe the answer is:
personal
'private' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'wears no pearls' is the wordplay.
'wears' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'worn' mean this (worn can mean damaged)).
'no'+'pearls'='nopearls'
'nopearls' anagrammed gives 'PERSONAL'.
(Other definitions for personal that I've seen before include "Affecting an individual" , "Private - bodily" , "Confidential" , "Individual; advert (column)" , "Pertaining to the self" .)