In dire straits, a figure of the aristocracy (8)
I believe the answer is:
tsaritsa
'figure of the aristocracy' 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 can't see?
'in dire straits a' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'dire' is an anagram indicator.
'straits' with letters rearranged gives 'tsritsa'.
'tsritsa' going around 'a' is 'TSARITSA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tsaritsa that I've seen before include "ruler's consort" , "Royal lady" , "Russian empress" .)