merriment vs diversion

merriment and diversion both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
merriment	Yes	No	No	No
diversion	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, diversion is a hypernym of merriment; that is, diversion is a word with a broader meaning than merriment:

Other hypernyms of merriment include recreation.

merriment (noun)	diversion (noun)
activities that are enjoyable or amusing	an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates
a gay feeling	a turning aside (of your course or attention or concern)
	an attack calculated to draw enemy defense away from the point of the principal attack