Distinguished elderly relative died (5)
I believe the answer is:
grand
'distinguished' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'elderly relative died' is the wordplay.
'elderly relative' becomes 'gran' (I've seen this before).
'died' becomes 'd'.
'gran'+'d'='GRAND'
(Other definitions for grand that I've seen before include "One thousand pounds" , "sum of money" , "A slangy PS1,000" , "Majestic" , "1,000 GBP" .)