Person honoured for great achievements (8)
I believe the answer is:
laureate
'person honoured for great achievements' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for laureate that I've seen before include "Acclaimed pacifist" , "One honoured for outstanding achievement" , "Royal poet" , "Honoured poet" , "Person honoured for creative achievement" .)