Liberal rings up an eccentric (9)
I believe the answer is:
unsparing
'liberal' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'rings up an eccentric' is the wordplay.
'eccentric' indicates anagramming the letters.
'rings'+'up'+'an'='ringsupan'
'ringsupan' is an anagram of 'UNSPARING'.
(Other definitions for unsparing that I've seen before include "generous" , "Wanting mercy" , "harsh" , "Merciless, severe" , "Profuse - ruthless" .)