Laugh about Phil's missus being an illustrious type (4)
I believe the answer is:
hero
'an illustrious type' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'laugh about phil's missus' is the wordplay.
'laugh' becomes 'ho' (representation of a laughing sound).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'phil's missus' becomes 'er' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ho' enclosing 'er' is 'HERO'.
'being' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hero that I've seen before include "object of adulation" , "Chief good guy in a story" , "Person renowned for bravery" , "Principal male character in a play, movie, novel or poem" , "Star" .)