So loveless, still, and very young (5)
I believe the answer is:
seven
'very young' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'so loveless still' is the wordplay.
'so loveless' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'still' becomes 'even' (synonyms).
's'+'even'='SEVEN'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for seven that I've seen before include "Theme of exotic dance" , "Number of sins, seas or dwarves" , "number of swans aswimming" , "Dwarfs or Wonders of the World?" , "Wonders of the World - Deadly Sins" .)