Emotional time before New Year (5)
I believe the answer is:
teary
'emotional' is the definition.
(likely to burst into tears)
'time before new year' is the wordplay.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'year' is an anagram of 'eary'.
't'+'eary'='TEARY'
(Other definitions for teary that I've seen before include "Lachrymose" , "Upset" , "Weeping" , "Weepy" , "Watery" .)