驚き
おどろき · odoroki · JLPT N3 · noun
surprise
🐴 驚 = 敬 (respect) over 馬 (horse): a spooked horse, so surprise
The kanji puts 馬 horse under 敬, which mostly gives the sound kyō. Horses spook easily, so a startled horse came to mean surprise. Sound hook: odoroki sounds like oh, door rocky! as a gasp of astonishment.