| 1981 | appreciate |
| 1982 | cotton |
| 1983 | enterprise |
| 1984 | passage |
| 1985 | phrase |
| 1986 | pond |
| 1987 | skeptical |
| 1988 | astronaut |
| 1989 | devastate |
| 1990 | freedom |
| 1991 | poverty |
| 1992 | rubber |
| 1993 | supplement |
| 1994 | amber |
| 1995 | architect |
| 1996 | compromise |
| 1997 | deserve |
| 1998 | geometry |
| 1999 | provoke |
| 2000 | significance |
