Hypoallergenic means made to be unlikely to irritate the skin. Hypoallergenic cream, hypoallergenic bedding, marked hypoallergenic.
The claim is not regulated in most places, so it means whatever the maker wants it to — there is no standard test behind it. Hypo- means under or less, so the word promises less allergenic rather than not allergenic. It was coined for cosmetics advertising in the 1950s.
1adjectivehypoallergenicMade to be unlikely to irritate the skin.
“Choose a hypoallergenic soap if your baby's skin gets red and itchy.”
hypoallergenic is a quality of low irritation.
Coined in the 1950s from hypo-, under, plus allergenic. It was an advertising word from the start.
Coined between 1950 and 1955 from hypo- + allergenic. Some say that it was coined by advertisers in 1953. Merriam-Webster puts the date at 1940.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA