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https://youtu.be/jU7I5UpTMrM?t=2m20s

Here, Gilbert says "invested", staring at Anne. I searched the dictionary but it says "invested" means "Officially endowed with authority or power", which doesn't make any sense to me.

What exactly does "invested" mean here?

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    it's a figurative extension from sense 14 here to invest money; make an investment, where the "invested resources" involve time / energy / personal commitment, rather than actual money.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 14:29

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Invested there is used in the figurative sense "emotionally committed" or "putting all one has into an effort". He is referring to her very emotional (some would say overly emotional) acting.

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  • So "invested" here has a positive connotation, right? But how did you know that it was used in a figurative sense? I mean, we know a word is used figuratively because there's a similarity(?) between the words. But from the definition of "invested" I found ("officially endowed with authority or power"), I could never think of this meaning.
    – dbwlsld
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 13:33
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    Invested can mean "endowed with authority" but it more usually means "committing resources with expectation of a future payback." Typically it is used in a financial sense but can also be figuratively stretched to mean emotions, etc.
    – LawrenceC
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 13:42
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    @dbwlsld: We know from context that he is not talking about investment of money or other resources in the hope of a literal "payback" in the form of some kind of goods or money. So, if we are already aware of all of the possible meanings of invested, including the figurative one, we can use context to decide which meaning is appropriate. If we are not already aware of all of these meanings, we must consult one more more GOOD dictionaries, to get a sense of the possible meanings, and then use context to decide which is appropriate.
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 2, 2018 at 14:35

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