Embracing one, this clerk surprisingly virtuous? (10)

I believe the answer is:

christlike

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'virtuous?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'embracing one this clerk surprisingly' is the wordplay.
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'surprisingly' is an anagram indicator (a surprising ordering of the letters).
'this'+'clerk'='thisclerk'
'thisclerk' with letters rearranged gives 'chrstlike'.
'i' inserted within 'chrstlike' is 'CHRISTLIKE'.

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