Painters, perhaps, in dire straits (7)
I believe the answer is:
artists
'painters perhaps' is the definition.
(painter is a kind of artist)
'dire straits' is the wordplay.
'dire' indicates an anagram.
'straits' is an anagram of 'ARTISTS'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for artists that I've seen before include "They imagine" , "Painters" , "creative types may find themselves" , "Creative people" , "Monet and Manet, for example" .)