The word 赫然 is formed by combining the character 赫, which signifies something conspicuous or awe-inspiring, itself composed of two 赤 characters conveying redness or intensity, with the character 然, a grammatical suffix that converts adjectives into adverbs to indicate manner or state. This combination results in an adverb meaning "strikingly" or "awfully", where 赫 supplies the semantic core of vividness or shock, and 然 provides the adverbial function.