Year dot starts hot (7)
I believe the answer is:
peppery
'hot' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'year dot starts' is the wordplay.
'year' becomes 'y'.
'dot' becomes 'pepper' (I've seen this before).
'starts' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'y' put after 'pepper' is 'PEPPERY'.
(Other definitions for peppery that I've seen before include "Very spicy" , "Highly spiced" , "Quick-tempered" , "Irritable" .)