Public penury, essentially (5)
I believe the answer is:
overt
'public' is the definition.
(both can mean well-known or unconcealed)
'penury essentially' is the wordplay.
'penury' becomes 'poverty' (I've seen this before).
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
The middle letters of 'poverty' are 'OVERT'.
(Other definitions for overt that I've seen before include "Done in an obvious way" , "Explicit" , "____ is able to be seen" , "Open and candid" , "Open to view" .)