Criminal relented, if receiving answer showing respect (11)
I believe the answer is:
deferential
'showing respect' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'criminal relented if receiving answer' is the wordplay.
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'receiving' indicates putting letters inside.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'relented'+'if'='relentedif'
'relentedif' anagrammed gives 'deferentil'.
'deferentil' enclosing 'a' is 'DEFERENTIAL'.
(Other definitions for deferential that I've seen before include "Respectful" , "Showing respect" , "Submissive" .)