Noun
That which serves to trap or adorn; ornaments; dress; superficial decorations.
Specifically, ornaments to be put on horses.
Source: Webster's dictionaryOnce you touch the trappings of monarchy, like opening an Egyptian tomb, the inside is liable to crumble. Anthony Sampson
The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth. Samuel Johnson
All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity. George Washington
When we vest our personal opinions with the trappings of religion, we make religion the servant of our politics. John Danforth
By pretending that convention is Nature, that disobeying a personal prohibition is a medical illness, they establish themselves as agents of social control and at the same time disguise their punitive interventions in the semantic and social trappings of medical practice. Thomas Szasz
New trappings to an old mule. Spanish Proverb