The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word MANDARIN
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
A
N
D
A
R
I
N
More clues leading to the result MANDARIN
- Orange for high-ranking bureaucrat
- High official’s valet endlessly taking risks
- Official language
- Fellow venturing to unseat last bureaucrat
- Official, being bold, cut down on staff
- Island Bobby
- Influential figure, sweet thing
- Producer of orange tongue
- This duck seen in damn rain, swimming
- Top official in drama cast around north
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "high-ranking official" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case high-ranking official = mandarin.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does MANDARIN mean?
MANDARIN noun- A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire
- A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat
- A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles
- A senior civil servant
- Pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist
- A perching duck that has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face, Aix galericulata.
- (color) an orange colour
- A small citrus tree (Citrus reticulata) with fruit resembling the orange.
- The fruit of this tree, smaller than an orange and oblate. In daily usage, it may include other similar citrus fruits like Citrus unshiu (satsuma or mikan) Citrus tangerina (tangerine).