The word 受宠若惊 is formed by sequentially combining the characters 受 (to receive), 宠 (favor), 若 (as if), and 惊 (startled). The first two characters 受宠 create the concept of "receiving favor", which is then directly compared by 若惊 to the state of being "as if startled", resulting in a literal meaning of "receiving favor as if startled" to express the reaction to unexpected kindness.