A lovable rogue, especially (5,3)
I believe the answer is:
above all
'especially' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a lovable rogue' is the wordplay.
'rogue' indicates anagramming the letters.
'lovable' with letters rearranged gives 'boveall'.
'a'+'boveall'='ABOVE ALL'
(Other definitions for above all that I've seen before include "Hamlet : 'This . . . . . . . ., to thine own self be true'" , "at the end of the day?" , "Supremely" , "What 18 [EVEREST] is" , "Like the managing director" .)