using System;

using System.ComponentModel;

using System.Linq;

public class Program

{

    public static void Main()

    {

        MatchType? matchType = MatchType.Auto;

        Console.WriteLine(EnumHelper.GetDescription(matchType));

    }

    public enum MatchType

    {

        Auto,

        Manual,

        [Description("No Match")]

        NoMatch

    }   

}

​

public static class EnumHelper

{

    public static string GetDescription<T>(this T matchType)

    {

        if (matchType == null)

        {

            return null;

        }

        var attribute = (DescriptionAttribute) matchType.GetType()

            .GetField(matchType.ToString())

            .GetCustomAttributes(false)

            .Where(a => a is DescriptionAttribute)

            .FirstOrDefault();

​

        return attribute != null ? attribute.Description : matchType.ToString();

    }

}