うめる does seem to more generally applicable, but I can’t confirm that うずめる is more intense. For instance, うずめる seems to be the verb used for “partial” burying, as in the pillow example you mentioned.
Okay thank you for this because the difference in reading was at the back of my head and I've been meaning to dig into it...!
For those who'd like a translation from that great page @compmyon shared:
Both うめる and うずめる are used for cases like "filling a hole with soil" or "burying a bottle in the ground"
Nuances:
「うめる」= filling a cavity or hole, metaphorical or actual. (The other day I saw this word used by a character who approaches their sad friend and says something like, "can I be the person who fills the (metaphorical lol) hole in your heart" and they used うめる)
「うずめる」= completely covering an empty place or gap with something, especially with the nuance of densely filling every corner ("the spectators completely filled up the bleachers/stands") ("Let's cover the town with greenery")
Unique expressions for うめる: filling a hot bath (湯をうめる), make up for a loss (損失をうめる)
Unique expressions for うずめる: burying your face in your lover's chest (恋人の胸に顔をうずめる)
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24 days ago
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is there a word for burying as in burying a deceased person?
