Even most boffins at first rubbished climate representative (10)
I believe the answer is:
emblematic
'representative' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'even most boffins at first rubbished climate' is the wordplay.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
'rubbished' is an anagram indicator.
The first letters of 'even most boffins' is 'emb'.
'climate' with letters rearranged gives 'lematic'.
'emb'+'lematic'='EMBLEMATIC'
(Other definitions for emblematic that I've seen before include "Symbolical" , "representative symbol" , "Symbolic" .)