Proud leader in the Levant? (8)
I believe the answer is:
embossed
'proud' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'leader in the levant?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'leader' could be 'boss' (boss is a kind of leader) and 'boss' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for embossed that I've seen before include "Raised in relief" , "Standing out" , "Made to protrude" , "Stamped, raised" , "With a raised design" .)