Sad to say, a girl gets mimicked (4)
I believe the answer is:
alas
'sad to say' is the definition.
('alas' is said before reporting something sad)
'a girl gets mimicked' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
The remaining letters 'las' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alas that I've seen before include "Sad expression" , "-- and alack!" , "Antipodean island state" , "More's the pity" , "Cry of grief" .)