Seemed good hearted in distributing dole (6)
I believe the answer is:
looked
'seemed' is the definition.
('look' can be a synonym of 'seem')
'good hearted in distributing dole' is the wordplay.
'good hearted' becomes 'ok' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'distributing' is an anagram indicator.
'dole' is an anagram of 'loed'.
'ok' going within 'loed' is 'LOOKED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for looked that I've seen before include "Directed one' s gaze towards" , "Appeared" , "Directed one's gaze towards" , "Direct one's gaze towards" .)