Intimate spotted losing head (5)
I believe the answer is:
imply
'intimate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'spotted losing head' is the wordplay.
'spotted' becomes 'pimply'.
'losing head' means to remove the first letter.
'pimply' with its initial letter taken off is 'IMPLY'.
(Other definitions for imply that I've seen before include "State indirectly" , "Insinuate or suggest" , "Mean" , "Infer" , "Intimate, suggest indirectly" .)