dire straits vs straits

dire straits and straits both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
dire straits	Yes	No	No	No
straits	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, straits is a hypernym of dire straits; that is, straits is a word with a broader meaning than dire straits:

Other hypernyms of dire straits include pass, strait.

dire straits (noun)	straits (noun)
a state of extreme distress	a difficult juncture
	a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs