Reportedly, man’s in the shade (3)
I believe the answer is:
hue
'the shade' is the definition.
(both can mean a colour)
'reportedly man's' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'man' becomes 'Hew'.
'hew' sounds like 'HUE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hue that I've seen before include "General hubbub - . . . and cry" , "Tone, shade" , "Shade of colour; Vietnam port" , "'Pigment, colour (3)'" , "Shade, aspect; Vietnam port" .)