Refer to woman adopting leftwing attitude, for example, though it's just a rumour (7)
I believe the answer is:
hearsay
'rumour' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'refer to woman adopting leftwing attitude for example though it's just a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'woman' could be 'her' (her refers to a woman) and 'her' is present in the leftover letters.
'it' could be 'sa' (SA can mean sex appeal, as in 'it') and 'sa' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'y' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hearsay that I've seen before include "Gossip or idle talk - it's not evidence" , "rumoured" , "Based on report given by others" , "Gossip or rumour - not allowed as evidence" , "Rumour or gossip - inadmissible as evidence" .)