The distress of hen parties without Esther (4)
I believe the answer is:
pain
'the distress' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'of hen parties without esther' is the wordplay.
'of' indicates anagramming the letters (the answer comes from or 'of' the letters).
'without' is a deletion indicator.
'hen'+'parties'='henparties'
'henparties' with 'esther' removed is 'npai'.
'npai' with letters rearranged gives 'PAIN'.
(Other definitions for pain that I've seen before include "Suffering, distress" , "Hurt feeling" , "Suffering, ache" , "Mental distress" , "Sensation of acute discomfort" .)