Entertaiment is a broad category of human activity that consists of leisure time. It may be sedentary (watching a movie or a TV show) or active (playing games and sports). It is often used for pleasure, but it can also be educational or informative. Historically, entertainment has often inspired retellings in another medium – for example the Scheherazade story from Persian professional storytelling traditions became an orchestral work by Rimsky-Korsakov, a film by Pasolini and an innovative video game.

According to Bates and Ferri, entertainment is an activity that is understood objectively, communicates with an audience through external stimulus, offers pleasure and involves a passive form of participation.