Dry-eyed nobleman hugged by Hardy's girl (8)
I believe the answer is:
tearless
'dry-eyed' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'nobleman hugged by hardy's girl' is the wordplay.
'nobleman' becomes 'earl' (member of the nobility).
'hugged by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (I've seen this in other clues).
'hardy's girl' becomes 'tess' (I've seen this in another clue).
'earl' going within 'tess' is 'TEARLESS'.
(Other definitions for tearless that I've seen before include "stiff upper lip" , "Dry" , "betraying no emotion" , "without displaying sorrow" .)