Esteems good person turning up preceded by awful creeps (8)
I believe the answer is:
respects
'esteems' is the definition.
('respect' can be a synonym of 'esteem')
'good person turning up preceded by awful creeps' is the wordplay.
'good person' becomes 'st' (saint).
'turning up' is a reversal indicator.
'preceded by' says to put letters next to each other.
'awful' indicates an anagram.
'st' backwards is 'ts'.
'creeps' is an anagram of 'respec'.
'ts' put after 'respec' is 'RESPECTS'.
(Other definitions for respects that I've seen before include "Pays proper attention to" , "Admires" , "Compliments" , "Observes" , "Treats with esteem" .)