Ready to get upset about a piece of work being tedious (6)
I believe the answer is:
dreary
'being tedious' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'ready to get upset about a piece' is the wordplay.
'to get upset' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'getting upset' mean this).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a piece' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for Rook).
'ready' anagrammed gives 'deary'.
'deary' enclosing 'r' is 'DREARY'.
'of work' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dreary that I've seen before include "Drab and depressing" , "Dismal, boring" , "Dismal, depressing" , "Dismal, funereal" , "Dull, tedious" .)