The word "哗众取宠" is formed by combining two distinct verb-object phrases: "哗众" meaning "to clamor for the crowd" or "to sensationalize for the public", where "哗" acts as a verb indicating noisy or showy action and "众" is the object representing the multitude; this is directly linked to "取宠" meaning "to curry favor", where "取" is the verb for seeking or obtaining and "宠" is the object denoting favor or affection, thus creating a compound idiom where the first part describes the method and the second part the aim.