It’s rough being right in a mess! (5)
I believe the answer is:
harsh
'it's rough' is the definition.
('harsh' can be a synonym of 'rough')
'right in a mess' is the wordplay.
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a mess' becomes 'hash' (I've seen this before).
'r' put into 'hash' is 'HARSH'.
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for harsh that I've seen before include "Grating; severe" , "Unpleasantly stern" , "Severe and disagreeable" , "Punitive" , "Jarring" .)