The word "惊醒" is formed by combining the character "惊", which means to startle or frighten, with the character "醒", which means to wake up or awaken. This combination creates a verb that literally denotes waking up abruptly due to a startling stimulus, such as a noise, or figuratively describes suddenly becoming aware of something with a sense of alarm. The formation directly pairs the cause (startling) with the resulting action (awakening).