Pale faces of twits stating desires (5)
I believe the answer is:
wants
'desires' is the definition.
(I know this)
'pale faces of twits stating' is the wordplay.
'pale' becomes 'wan' (wan can mean pale or grey).
'faces of' indicates taking the first letters (I've seen 'face of' mean this).
The initial letters of 'twits stating' is 'ts'.
'wan'+'ts'='WANTS'
(Other definitions for wants that I've seen before include "Needs" , "Desires" .)