Splendour of city almost dead (5)
I believe the answer is:
eclat
'splendour' is the definition.
(eclat is a kind of splendour)
'city almost dead' is the wordplay.
'city' becomes 'EC' (the City of London postcode).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (almost the whole word is kept).
'dead' becomes 'late' (similar in meaning).
'late' with its last letter removed is 'lat'.
'ec'+'lat'='ECLAT'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for eclat that I've seen before include "Brilliance" , "Fame -- style" , "Showy effect (Fr.)" , "Social distinction in France" , "Brilliant display or effect" .)