Entertaiment is a form of recreation and is usually agreeable or diverting. It often involves a performance of some kind, although it can also be a game or other activity that gives pleasure and amusement: solving a crossword puzzle is entertainment for many people. Entertainment can be serious, however: a public execution may be shocking entertainment, as may the depiction of social backstabbing or murder in a novel or play.

The power of entertainment is demonstrated by the way that one story can inspire retellings in different media: for example, the Scheherazade legend, which is used in the professional storytelling tradition of Persian professional storytelling, has been turned into an orchestral piece by Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel; it was made into a film by Pasolini; and it has been made into an innovative video game.